The Sands of Change
by Spade-Ace-Joker
Summary: October 10th is the night the Leaf village was changed forever. But what if something else attacked? The Sands of Change are upon this deary night and what a change it is... NaruHina Brief Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I (sadly) Do Not Own Naruto**

**Summary: It's October Tenth, the legendary night of nightmarish horror. The night the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked Konohagakure. But what if something was changed that night?**

**AN: Hey all! First fanfic here. I have read a few stories on here for the past few years and thought I outta try my hand at it. I always had this idea of a slight switch in the Character. So I thought I would try my luck out. I would greatly appreciate any kind of criticism or review. It helps me grow as a writer so thanks in advance! Sorry for rambling on. Let's move to the story ****shall we?**

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Today was like any other for the multitude of citizens currently residing in Konoha. The Sun rose and set like it always did. The moon followed swiftly behind the sun, illuminating the city in its pale glow. The citizens of the vast village looked up to the moon and smiled at its beauty and soft brilliance. It was a full moon tonight and the village was basking in it. Well most of the village anyway. A few people in an underground and hidden location did not have the chance to view the illustrious moon.

[Somewhere on the outskirts of Konoha]

"Push Kushina, I can see the little boy now!" Kushina simply gripped his hand tighter in response. Her body was in far to much pain to offer up anything other than that. With a grunt she pushed using up the very last reserves of her energy. A few moments of antagonizing pain went by before she was rewarded with the sound of a crying baby boy.

The nurse quickly went to work cleaning up the baby and making sure the rest of the unsavory details were taken care of. Once she was done she turned around with a smile on her face. She gingerly walked over to Kushina, careful as to not wake up the now silenced baby, and handed him over.

Kushina had a look of pure joy on her face despite the obvious signs of exhaustion. Her forehead had a sheen of sweat that paired with her slightly matted down hair from the aforementioned sweat. Minato, The Fourth Hokage, was to her right and looked equally as joyous and exhausted. Sure he wasn't the one to give the birth but after watching everything and all the waiting he felt as though he had. The two looked to each other and shared a chaste kiss before looking to the baby.

"He looks just like you Minato." Kushina smiled at her husband. Minato ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah I guess he kinda does. This means we might have to worry about fangirls." Minato nervously chuckled. Kushina frowned deeply.

"Oh no. Not as long as I am around! Our Naruto will most certainly not be any of the useless Kunoichi fangirls!" Kushina began to fume silently. Minato laughed heartily at his wife. Until they both felt an a presence enter the room. It was one of the Anbu guards from outside and he appeared to be in bad shape.

"Lord Hokage! A large demon is attacking the Village!" Minato instantly snapped into combat mode and hardened the expression on his face. He turned his body and his attention to the Anbu.

"What is the damage thus far?" The Anbu straightened up at the tone Minato was using.

"So far it has only entered the merchants section of the city. The Sandaime has taken command of the ninja force and plans to hold it off until you can get there." The Anbu reported. This gave Minato pause. How was he planning to beat a demon? Well first he had to learn of the type of demon this thing was.

"Boar." Minato called the animal masked Anbu. "What is the type demon causing harm?" The Anbu seemed puzzled at the question.

"I..I don't know Lord Hokage. The Beast is huge and lumbering and slow. It appears to made of sand. During some of it's attacks it seems to inhale a large amount of air before expelling it at a high speed. The sand has several kinds of markings all over it and one giant tail." Minato took in the information and began to ponder. _' Huge and slow? Made of sand with markings? One tail? That can only make it one thing. Shukaku, the One Tailed beast.'_

Kushina noticed her Husband's look and decided to ask "What is it Minato?" Minato turned to his wife with a grim look on his face.

"It's one of the Tailed beast. The Ichibi, Shukaku. A demon composed of sand." Minato walked over to his jonin vest and threw it on followed up by zipping it up. "I am sorry Kushina I have to go handle this. I will be back though." He walked over and gave his wife a loving kiss before turning to the Anbu. "Boar, I want you to stay here with the nurse and tend to them. Do what you can to help." He smiled at the Anbu and his wife before vanishing in a flash of yellow light.

Kushina smiled widely before breaking out into a fit of coughs. The nurse rushed over to Kushina with a white towel in her hand. She handed it over to Kushina who grabbed it with haste and proceeded to cough into the towel. After several more violent coughs Kushina pulled the towel away from her mouth to breathe. The nurse gasped when she looked upon the towel. It was covered in blood.

"Oh my we must get you help. Anbu please go and get a-" The nurse was cut off.

"No! Everyone is going to be busy with the healing of those who were fighting. Plus I have already been checked out by Lady Tsunade. I...I knew it would end like this." She looked down at the baby in her arms and smiled. She would at least have company for her final moments.

[Meanwhile, at the Namikaze Compound.]

A bright yellow flash of light illuminated the dark halls of the vast mansion. Standing in it's wake was Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage and student of Jiraiya, the Legendary Toad Sannin, and right now he was preparing for one hell of a fight. He grabbed small container of ink and a few brushes of varying size and shape. He donned his Hokage robe and grabbed a few more tri-pronged kunai for his signature jutsu, the Hiraishin. A loud howl broke the Hokage from his thoughts as he turned to look out the window.

In his vision he watched as the massive demon moved about in the village. _His_ village. His hand clutched tighter on his kunai as he watched the shinobi of his village attack the Tanuki. Within moments the air was filled with hundreds of fireballs and explosive tags. The Ichibi simply raised up one of it's massive arms and blocked all the projectiles with ease. The next moment the air was filled with the insane laughter of the Sand Demon. Another moment later and there was a large staff smashing into Shukaku's head causing it to roar with displeasure. The beast then spoke, it's loud voice booming all through the village.

**"Oi old man! That kin'a hurt! I'll make ye pay for that!" **Next thing that happened was a loud crashing sound as a massive sand fist crushed the building the previous Hokage was on. Minato decided that enough time as passed and now was the time to act. With a heavy sigh he focused his chakra and vanished in a flash of light.

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The Sandaime really hated his age right about now. It wasn't that he was exactly very old. No, it was just the fact that he was indeed an older shinobi. Hiruzen cursed as he threw his battered old body out of the way of another sand shower of shuriken heading towards him. And just like before, the creature laughed.

**"Was that all ye got? A boink on me head?" **Shukaku laughed loudly and wildly before sucking in a belly full of air and launching back out and at the Sandaime. Who in return used his more nimble speed and agility to get out of the way safely. The old Hokage prepped himself with chakra and jumped high in the air. He brought down the staff that was in his hand and watched as it grew to the size needed to hit Shukaku.

_Whack!_

First came a thundering crack as the staff hit the beast directly on his head. Shukaku tipped forward ever so slightly due to the hit. Without wasting a moment Hiruzen changed his grip on the staff and swung it around to his right.

**"Another one?! Ye need to do better than that!"**

_Whack!_

The result was another loud crack across Shukaku's face, sending the beast slightly off balance. The Third took in a deep breath and shifted grips to the other side. With a big heft he swung it around to hit the other side of the Sand Demon's face.

_Whack!_

Shukaku was even more unbalanced now as the force from that blow nearly wiped him off his feet. Hiruzen knew this had to be his last move as he was using far too much chakra enhancing his moves like this. With one mighty heave he swung the elongated staff around again.

_WHACK!_

The effect was instantaneous. Hiruzen watched as the massive beast was sent to the ground following that blast. The resounding impact could be heard all throughout Konoha when the beast hit the ground. The Sandaime landed on the building below him and began panting for air. He kept his trusty staff close but was in hardly any shape to use it. Shukaku was beginning to get up, albeit slowly. Hiruzen sighed loudly before preparing to fight again. Lucky for him that wouldn't be needed.

Just as Shukaku was about halfway up a large gold flash of light lit up the sky and out of it came a toad nearly the size of Shukaku and the legendary Fourth riding atop his head. A few seconds later the duo came crashing down and landed on top of Shukaku and smashed him back into the ground. The Fourth hopped off of him and went to go and check up on the Sandaime.

"Hey how are ya holding up?" Minato asked the previous Hokage who managed a smile.

"Been better. Wish I was a bit younger. My old body could barely keep this fight up." They both shared a weak and tired laugh.

"Well then you just sit here and rest up. Ill handle this one." Minato said with a hint of pride evident in his voice.

"Oh and how is that?" The Sandaime inquired to his younger counter-part. Minato knelt down and unveiled the bundle of cloth in his arm. The Sandaime looked over to see a newborn child in his arms. His eyes widened considerably.

"Minato is this your-"

"Yes." Minato answered.

"Then you must be planning to-"

"Yes I do." Minato said a bit more sadly this time.

"I see. Well you better get going. No telling when that thing will-" Hiruzen was cut off as a loud roar cut through the conversation.

**"****Oi! Toad! Get ye ass off of me!"** Shukaku bellowed out as he threw the toad off his body and proceeded to get up. Gamabunta gave a look to Minato before landing several miles away. Minato wasted no time after that and made his move. With a mighty toss he threw his tri-pronged kunai at the large beast. He was still too far away for it to hit and he knew that. He just needed to get closer to him. With a large flash he vanished and moved to the kunai that was currently sailing through the air.

**"****Oh pretty light!"** Shukaku made an attempt to grab at the light when Minato reappeared and quickly grabbed it an threw it again. This time though it landed and stuck into Shukaku's skin.

**"****Oi there it is again!"** Shukaku made another attempt to grab at it.

Minato smirked in victory when he noticed the kunai stick to his skin. It was most likely far too small for Shukaku to even care about it, much less notice it. He disappeared in a flash of gold and the next instance was upon the beast of sand. Minato quickly placed his hand on the belly of this beast and applied the seal to him. Victory it would seem belonged to Minato. With one final glance to the Sandaime, Minato and Shukaku vanished.

_'Good job Minato. You truly are worthy of the title, Hokage.'_

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One large flash and several good miles worth of teleporting later the duo arrived. Shukaku, being the clumsy beast that he is, almost immediately fell over from the surprise. His heavy body smashing straight into the ground and destroying a vast amount of trees near him.

Minato, sensing the beast was going to fall before it did, jumped off and landed next to an altar like setting with a child in the middle. Minato smiled down at the sleeping child and remembered the conversation he had with his wife about it.

_[Flashback]_

_Minato arrived in the hidden location where his wife was to find her sleeping and the Anbu and nurse carefully monitoring her health. He smiled when he noticed the steady pulse his wife was giving off. It turned out she would be okay. The Anbu stood up instantly and bowed when Minato arrived. He simply put a finger to his mouth, silently telling the Anbu to be quiet. He nodded in respect and sat back down. Minato carefully walked to where the baby and Kushina laid. He smiled at the scene._

_"Mmm Minato what are you doing here?" Kushina asked as she was beginning to wake up. Minato jumped at his wife's voice startling him._

_"Oh! Uhh When..When did you wake up?" Minato asked while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Kushina raised an eyebrow at her husband._

_"Well your entrance isn't exactly subtle." Kushina stated bluntly making her Husband even more nervous._

_"Ye-yeah I guess so." Kushina looked at him seriously for a moment. Minato did his best to avoid to avoid his wife's gaze but after some time realized it was futile._

_"I came for Naruto." Minato stated bluntly and Kushina's eyes widened. She immediately switch from shocked to angry._

_"Why exactly do you need our son?" Minato frowned. He knew this wasn't going to be easy._

_"I intend to seal Shukaku inside of Naruto." Kushina's face instantly became red with fury._

_"No! I won't let you! Why does it have to be our baby? Why can't you ask for someone el-"_

_"Kushina! Do you hear yourself? You have us, who have a newborn child of our own, to ask another family to make this sacrifice?" Minato stated firmly, which caused his wife to become quiet. After a few long moments of silence._

_"I know it's what needs to happen. I...I just..." Kushina began to tear up at her own words and thoughts. Minato placed a hand on his wife's shoulder with a warm smile._

_"It's just hard. I wish we didn't have to but we must. Our son will be a hero due to this. I promise."_

_"Promise?" Kushina looked at her husband with a hopeful look._

_"I promise. He will be one of Konoha's greatest heroes!" Minato proclaimed loudly. Kushina smiled for a moment then quickly frowned._

_"I want a few more minutes with him." Minato opened his mouth to speak but one glare from his wife told him that this topic was NOT up for debate. Sighing mentally he to looked upon Naruto and admired him._

_After a few minutes spent with the child, the moment arrived. Minato carefully took Naruto into his arms and gave his wife another kiss and smile before flashing away again. Kushina watched the two vanish before her vision began to become blurry and her eye lids heavy._

_'Hurry Minato...I may not be able to last...much longer.'_

_[Flashback End]_

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Minato smiled again warmly at the memory and at his wife. That is, until a giant sand Tanuki decided to make his voice heard.

**"****Aye! That wasn't very nice! Got me all dizzy like!"** Shukaku roared in confusing and dizziness. Slowly the lumbering beast made it's best effort to get up. Despite his demeanor and marking as a Demon Shukaku seemed to be laughing and enjoying himself. Minato found this quite odd. Shukaku seemed to act like any other animal in nature.

Minato knew this beast would not be able to be fully sealed unless he weakened him first. Lucky for him he had plenty of his own chakra to keep this fight up. Minato quickly bit his thumb and summoned Gamabunta over to where he was.

**"****Eh Minato?" **The toad asked to be certain as he looked up to notice the blonde man standing atop his head. Minato nodded and smiled. Gamabunta noticed the ground shaking and looked forward. There stood Shukaku slowly moving towards Minato and him. The toad boss turned around and noticed little Naruto exposed and in the open. He now understood his mission. **"****Hold on!"**

The toad crouched down then jumped several hundred feet up in the air and ran through hand seals. Shukaku saw this and refused to let it happen. He sucked up a vast amount of air and shot it out at full speed.

Gamabunta was getting worried. The air blast was close now and he was about to be hit. Just then he moved. Or rather he was moved. He looked up and Minato was smiling. Smirking to himself he shot out a large ball of water out and at Shukaku.

Sadly for Shukaku, being the large beast that he is, could not dodge the ball of water and took it straight on. Shukaku shook his head to clear it. He drew in air and fired out again.

The duo in the air knew that there was little they could do to stop it. But Minato wasn't a kage level seal expert for nothing! With a face of determination he push chakra into a re-direction seal. The air bullet came close to them and as per the name, the blast was instantly re-directed. His own air blast pelted Shukaku and knocked him over.

The two landed on the ground and needed to finish this fight. Gamabunta made the same hand seals as before but loaded the rest of his chakra into it. With one powerful heave he shot the water ball out. Once it hit, the water soaked Shukaku and made him extremely sluggish. The toad boss took out his sword and dashed towards the lumbering melting sand mass.

Shukaku raised one of his arms to defend himself, It was easily cut off due to the softness of his now soaked sand. Shukaku growled in anger and swung his tail and knocked the toad back. Minato jumped off the toad and dismissed him. He pondered a way to solve this.

He opened his eyes and turned to face the beast "Hey! How do you feel about being liked?" He yelled up to the massive sand beast. He was going to try and apply to his more childish and animal like side. Shukaku simply angled his head and looked down at him.

**"****ME?! LIKED?! HA!"** He broke into a fit of loud laughs but stopped when he noticed Minato wasn't laughing. **"****Eh? Your bein' serious?"** Shukaku asked, genuinely amazed and curious.

"I am." Minato said with firm resolution. Shukaku eyed him intensely.

**"****How do ya plan on me bein' liked eh? I kinda 'recked ya home. Why should I even listen to ya?"** Minato smiled at the beast causing Shukaku to wonder just what he was going on about.

"True but I have a proposition for you, that's why." Minato paused when he noticed Shukaku's confused look. "Er a deal." Shukaku decided to get closer by laying down, his head merely a few feet away from Minato. Shukaku's thought process was **'Might as well hear him out. I could always kill him later!'**

"You see. I am the Yondaime Hokage of this village." He pointed to Naruto "That over there is my son. If you agree to being sealed in him I promise you will be liked through him. I promise." Shukaku seemed to actually consider this.

**"****Be sealed in the kid eh?" **Shukaku looked over to the boy. He stared for an extensively long amount of attention which was surprising to Minato considering who this was. He then spoke in a low tone that almost sounded like he was scared. **"****How did I know you won't lie?"** Shukaku shifted his intense gaze to the Yondaime, who shivered from slight fear at the look.

"You have my word and promise as a Hokage." Minato placed his hand on his heart.

**"****And if I refuse and kill ye anyway?"** Shukaku asked as to gauge to the strength on this particularly interesting man. Minato chuckled for a bit before looked him dead in the eye.

"There is a lake deep enough and close enough to us. I have enough chakra. I will simply teleport us there and drop you in it. I am sure you will live but when you get out you will have one heck of a time fighting back. I will forcefully seal you into Naruto after that." Minato stated with confidence. The beast glared into his eye. Minato knew this was the moment of truth. If he showed any signs of weakness he would have to fight this one out.

Shukaku really didn't want to have to fight his way back out of this. He decided then he might as well kill this guy and walk away, maybe go visit that place in the desert next. He shifted his gaze over to the child. Shukaku's eyes widened for a moment. He saw his father's ghost smiling with his hand on Naruto's head. **'Father.'**

Minato looked over to Naruto confused as to why Shukaku was so stunned.

"Shukaku, my son." Shukaku looked at the ghost of sage and felt a wave of sadness creep over him. "This child has my blessing. Promise me you will protect him?" Shukaku was response was instant as he nodded his large head quickly. He turned back to Minato.

**"****I'll do it!"** Shukaku bellowed so loud that Minato had to apply chakra to his feet to ensure he didn't go flying away. Minato smiled at the beast.

"Very well then. Let's begin!" Minato shouted as he released the chakra he had built up. Within moment Shukaku was peacefully pulled into Naruto, his seal burning brightly in an orange hue. Minato decided to sit down for a moment, overly exhausted from sealing a tailed beast away. He looked over to Naruto and noticed the seal was holding up perfectly. In fact Naruto seemed to gain thick black that surrounded his eyes. Minato guessed this must have been due to his new partner. This is about the time Minato remembered something. Something rather important.

"Kushina!" Minato shouted as he sat up quickly. Panicking he carefully picked up Naruto and went to meet back up with Kushina via Hiraishin.

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Kushina was dying and dying fast. She knew she didn't have more than a few minutes and by the sound of the calm and eerie night Minato had sealed the beast. Kushina smiled to herself seeing as how her husband was successful. Oh how she would love to sleep right about now. Just to close her eyes and drift off...

"Kushina!" Minato said as he arrived from his jutsu with baby Naruto in his arm. The Anbu and nurse, who were sleeping rather soundly, were so startled that the both fell out of their respective chairs and right onto each other. Minato eyed the scene as the two quickly separated. He turned back to his wife who had a very 'loving' look on his face. It was sickly sweet to Minato.

"Oh hello. Finally decided to come and visit me now?" Kushina asked her husband. She most certainly not pleased with him.

"Oh come on Kushina. It was hard to do!" Minato pleaded. Kushina just crossed her arms.

"Uh huh. I'm sure." Minato cried anime tears.

"But dear it was a Tailed Beast!" Kushina rolled her eyes at his statement.

"And I am your wife! I am far more important that any tailed thingy!" Minato sighed, there was no getting to his wife in this state. "Now let me see my baby!" Kushina made grabby hands as she reached for her child. Minato walked over and carefully handed her the boy.

Kushina cradled her child and soon tears began to run down her smooth cheeks. Minato saw this and pondered why.

"Kushina, why are you crying?" He asked his wife in earnest. Kushina's only response was to cry harder and hold her child closer to her body. Minato placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her seriously.

"M-Minato, the delivery t-took too m-much from me." She spoke in a low tone, in between sobs. Minato grew more and more worried with each word she spoke.

"Wha...What are trying to say Kushina?" Minato looked his wife directly in the eyes. This was all he needed to understand what she was trying say.

After this one moment the couple spent the rest of their remaining time together in silence.

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[Naruto's Mindscape]

Shukaku awoke in his dark cage. His golden eyes blazing in the dimly lit corridors of his cell. He sat up and looked around, getting accustomed to the new home which would be his for a rather long duration. He walked over to the large gate that was in front of him. Carefully he reached out and touched it. Instantly he was met with an electric shock that sent him several feet back.

**"****Hehehe! I guess that guy knew his stuff! This seal is nuts!"** Shukaku began laughing loudly and wildly. **"****I hope Father was right about this boy..."**

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**AN: That is all to this chapter. Please let me know how it went and what you enjoyed. Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Four years had passed since that fateful day which claimed the lives of so many. Both young and old. The village managed to maintain it strength in spite of everything. With Minato Namikaze still reigning as the Hokage the village felt capable to be able to withstand even the mightiest of storms.

During these three years many things were being done. Due to the damage that Shukaku did to the merchant district, many were out of jobs and the village had to rely on it's ninja force to supply it's income. Luckily, Minato had convinced the Civilian and Shinobi council to lend their vast wealth to help the village recover. With their help and the and some from the Fire Lord, the village made a speedy recovery with Minato leading the charge.

Speaking of which, Minato was currently in the Hokage tower with his three year old son. The boy was turning out to be very much like his mother and father, both in looks and physical traits. The boy had a rounder face that more closely resembled his mother while his unruly hair most certainly followed in the wake of his father. His skin tone and eyes also seemed to follow closely in league with his father as well.

Naruto was walking, more like stumbling and falling, but nonetheless trying his hardest to move about. Minato always watched his son with great interest for many reasons. First and foremost, as a Father. To him it was exciting to watch him grow and help him along when needed it. Secondly, he watched for Kushina who never got to make it this far.

Lastly, he was watching for signs of how Shukaku affected him. Naruto sometimes had trouble sleeping and would toss and turn at night. Sometimes his eyes would change color to Shukaku's yellow when he woke up. When questioned about it Naruto would say he was having weird dreams about an odd pile of sand. Minato also noted that during a full moon Naruto would be far more agitated than normal.

Minato was pulled out of his thoughts as his son stumbled and knocked into his desk followed by a rather loud "Ow" from the boy.

"Naruto." Minato said in his fatherly tone"You need to be more careful then that. You might get hurt." Naruto for his part was hardly paying attention as he ran about and smacked directly into a chair. Minato sighed and shook his head. Teaching the boy was bound to be rough. Naruto tried to stay conscious but quickly drifted off into darkness.

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[Naruto's Mindscape]

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled at his surroundings. He always enjoyed his trips here though he never understood quite how he got here. He looked into the giant set of bars and his smile widened.

"Sand Man!" Naruto belted out trying to get the beast's attention, while not knowing his name. Shukaku stiffed and turned around only to smile.

**"****Naruto!"** Shukaku bellowed out. While it is true Shukaku is normally psychotic and wild and dangerous he couldn't act that way now. Not with the Sage counting on him. Shukaku loved his father dearly and thus took his job protecting Naruto very seriously. Of course being able to play with the boy every now and then was fun too.

Naruto ran inside the huge bars. Shukaku lowered his head, if a bit clumsily, and put his snout directly in front of Naruto. Naruto, as per usual with Shukaku, reached out and began to pet Shukaku on the nose. This caused Shukaku to wave his enormous tail back and forth. The two spent the next several minutes playing before he woke up.

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[Real World]

When Naruto awoke he looked upon a strange sight. Above him was his Father, a rather busty blonde women, and another man with exceptionally white spiky hair and red lines on his face.

"Just as I thought. The brats head is way to thick for him to be actually hurt." The blonde women spoke. Causing a frown from his father.

"Tsunade. That isn't very nice to say about little Naruto." The women, now known as Tsunade, scoffed at him.

"Oh come on. The brats head is about as thick as Jiraiya's head." She pointed to the spiky haired man now identified as Jiraiya. Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest.

"It can't be that bad." Both Tsunade and Minato looked at him sternly. In return his simply sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Meanwhile, Naruto began to stir and sit up.

"Ah it lives!" Jiraiya said with an amusing tone. Minato himself just sighed, happy his son was alright. Tsunade rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Minato relax. Its not like anything serious happened to him." Following this both Jiraiya and Minato stood up.

"True but as a parent you can't help but to worry." Jiraiya laughed happily at his pupil.

"I'll bet it does!" Minato chuckled with his Sensei. Naruto on the other hand was back up and running around like nothing had happened to him, smiling and laughing all the while.

[][][][]

One year later, Minato and Naruto were on their way to a political meeting with the Hyuuga Clan and Aburame Clan. Minato being the Clan Head of the Namikaze Clan meant that he had to make allies and be friendly with the other clans. It could be rough at times, especially with Hiashi's stubborn elders, but Minato enjoyed the company it brought. Plus it gave Naruto someone to play with as the branch members often had kids around his age.

Of course Naruto never saw it this way and normally proceeded to complain about it as often as he could.

"But Dad do we haaave to go?"Naruto drawled out in an exaggeratedly bored tone of voice. Being in a noble family, due to his Father's accession into the Hokage ranks, meant that he had to dress like such. If only for important meetings like this one. Minato was dressed in his full Hokage robes and hat. Naruto was dressed in a bright orange and tan colored kimono made of silk.

"Yes Naruto we do and you might want to pay attention. You will have to do this some day yanno?" Minato said as they walked down the street to the Hyuuga compound. Naruto groaned loudly and drug his feet across the ground in silent protest.

"Stop that Naruto. Tell you what. If you are good during this meeting. Afterwards we will head out to go get ramen. Whaddya say?" Naruto instantly perked up at that thought.

"Okay yeah! Ramen time!" He began to do a little dance in the middle of the street causing Minato to sweatdrop.

"Uhh Naruto I did say _after_ the meeting." Naruto instantly looked beyond devastated but figured he was still getting ramen. The two picked up the pace and quickly made their way to the house.

[A few minutes later]

After a few moments of travel the duo arrived to their location. They were quickly greeted by two Hyuuga branch member guards. After making sure they were really who they said they were (Can never be too careful eh?) they went in.

Minato suspected it might be a rather boring gathering and he was right. He had been in there merely five minutes and one of the elders were already trying to convince him to listen to his idea. Minato politely told him that he couldn't listen right now but the man insisted! Lucky for him Hiashi came to the rescue.

"Lord Hokage it is an honor to have you here in my estate." Hiashi said with a bow of respect. His wife, Hitomi, bowed also. Minato and Naruto bowed in return. Naruto was looking up when he noticed a small amount of cloth and hair moving.

"Hey dad who is that?" He pointed to the little mass that was hiding behind Hitomi's leg. Hiashi and Hitomi both looked down and smiled. Causing the little girl to let out an 'eep' like noise.

"Naruto, this is my daughter Hinata. Hinata be polite and say hello." Hiashi asked.

"H-h-hello." The girl named Hinata said with a brilliant stutter to her voice. She raised her head so her face could be seen. The girl had lavender hair and the Hyuuga eyes. He skin and facial shape followed very close to that of her mother. Hitomi smiled.

"She does stutter quite a bit. She is just a tad shy." Hitomi spoke with a kindness to her voice that most certainly is not a Hyuuga voice.

Minato smiled and knelt down to the girls height "Hello little Hinata. My name is Minato. It is nice to meet you." He smiled at the little girl who in turn smiled back. "Naruto come say hello."

Naruto awkwardly waddled his way over to his fathers side and smiled "Nice to meet you Hinata. I'm Naruto!" He proclaimed loudly causing the little girl to blush. Hitomi noticed this and smiled.

"Quite the pair eh?" Hiashi said with a slight grin.

"Indeed!" Minato laughed while returning to his standing position. The trio of adults were about to leave when Naruto pulled on his dad's robes. Minato looked down and knew exactly what he wanted. Without a second thought he tossed down a small bag and the three left to go to another room, leaving the two kids alone.

Naruto caught the bag and smiled widely. Hinata tilted her head to side.

"N-Naruto what is in t-that?" Hinata asked with a blush on her face. Naruto turned to her like she was crazy but remembered she had never seen him before so he let it slide. Naruto smiled so wide Hinata thought his face might break.

"Well I have this cool thingy dad told me where I can move sand with my mind!" Naruto stated proudly. Not even noticing that two people had shown up next to them. One adult and one child. Both looked somewhat creepy.

"That sounds like something my Clan does. Why you may ask? It is because through the use of our mind and chakra network we too can control things with our mind. In our case bugs." Shibi spoke in a plain tone, scaring the little children. Almost as soon as the duo showed up a Hyuuga came and took Shibi to the meeting room with the others, leaving his son behind.

Naruto and Hinata both looked at each other before looking to the new boy in sunglasses. Naruto decided to take the imitative.

"Uh Hi there! My name is Naruto Namikaze! Nice to meet you." Naruto said with a certain happiness to his voice. Hinata, being the painfully shy person she was, could only manage a nod. The boy eyed the scene carefully.

"I am Shino Aburame." Shino said rather dryly. The three all nodded to each other. "What was that thing you were doing with the sand?" Shino asked in a curious tone of voice. Naruto seemed to snap back to reality and re-adopt his large grin.

"Oh right!I can move it and make shapes with it!" To further his point Naruto took the sand out of the bag and poured it on the floor. To everyone's surprise the sand began to float up and land in Naruto's hand, forming a small pyramid.

The rest of the time for the little kids was spent with them watching Naruto make various things with his sand and the three getting to know each other. Naruto found that he rather enjoyed the company of Hinata and Shino, they were both very good listeners. Shino enjoyed the trip and company because they never once judged him for his family and their style of fighting. Hinata enjoyed it because they were never mean to her nor did that ever make fun of her.

Before long the parents came back out to collect their respective children. Each of them were smiling which was odd considering who Hiashi and Shibi were.

"Hey Naruto, did you have fun playing?" Minato asked. Naruto looked up and smiled.

"Oh hey dad. Yeah I had tons of fun with Shino and Hinata!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. The other adults simply smiled at the scene.

"Well maybe sometime later we can set up a play date?" Minato asked looking more towards Hiashi and Shibi, both of which simply nodded in return. Naruto saw this and smiled to his two new friends.

"I hate to do this but we have to be going now. Come on Naruto. Say bye to your friends." Minato reached down and grabbed his son's hand. The two moved for the door while Naruto was saying by. Both gave another bow before leaving nearly bumping into a man.

Hiashi watched the two leave with a smile. That quickly vanished when a ninja from the cloud showed up.

"There you are. I am sorry but my meeting went on a moment longer than expected. We will have to convene tomorrow. For now I will have a branch member show you to your room." Hiashi said with a bow before collecting his daughter and wife and heading back. Hiashi did notice the odd look the Cloud ninja was giving his daughter.

[][][][]

Just as promised, and as Naruto begged, the two ended up at the Ramen stand. Minato of course was on good terms with them being Hokage and their greatest customer wrapped into one. Naruto on the other was quickly joining his father. The two ordered their food and quickly took to it, piling bowls on top of bowls till they were both done and full. Naruto was standing at the edge of the stand when he felt something.

Naruto wasn't exactly sure what he felt but it was like he could feel someone's feet hitting the ground. Another feeling nagged at Naruto. Something...wrong was going on and he had to find out. While Minato was catching up with the shop owners, Naruto took off in the direction of the noise.

Running as quick as his little feet could carry him he heard Shukaku speak to him, although this wasn't the first time.

**"****Hey pup, keep an eye out. Somethin' 'ere smells wrong."** Naruto nodded as he ran feeling as though Shukaku is right. As he was running he literally ran face first into a man.

"Watch yourself kid!" said the man as he bent over and picked up a wiggling sack. Naruto eyed the sack and sniffed the air a moment and recognized the scent.

"Hey why is Hinata in that bag?" Naruto asked sternly. The man snarled at the sack.

"Help!" Hinata yelled. The man cocked his leg back and moved to kick her but something grabbed his leg and refused to let go. He looked over and was completely shocked.

Naruto had willed the small amount of sand his dad gave him and made it expand to a size big enough to restrain him. Naruto's left eye was now that of Shukaku's eye. The man growled and broke the hold the sand had on him. Growling deeply Naruto dropped into a fighting stance, albeit a very loose and unskilled stance.

The man dashed at him with the speed and grace of a jonin and clocked him across the face. Naruto was sent flying and landed harshly. Naruto slowly began to stand up and his chakra began spiking to an all new level. Naruto looked up and much to his opponent's surprise, both of his eyes were now Shukaku yellow.

**"****You will not hurt Hinata anymore!"** Naruto roared in a mix between Shukaku's and his voice, releasing a blast of killer intent along with each word. The jonin level assailant, despite his best efforts, began to shake in fear of the young boy. Without another moment passing Naruto inhaled a large amount of air and shot it out at such a high speed the man could not counter or dodge the move at all. He was hit dead on and sent careening into a nearby building. His sand seemed to follow his subconscious and protected Hinata from taking any kind of damage.

Naruto roared out in obvious blood-lust and pain. It wasn't until Minato arrived that the boy gave out and collapsed on the ground. Minato rushed over and checked his seal and vitals. Within moments Hiashi and Hitomi Hyuuga were both there and looked to be in a severe panic. Upon seeing Naruto on the ground and a squirming bag they relaxed a bit. Hiashi went to go check on the boy with his eyes and Hitomi went to go check on the bag. Much to her joy, little Hinata was not harmed in anyway. She was just scared.

Naruto on the other hand was not doing as well as he could. His chakra coils were overly expanded due to the sudden influx of chakra and he was in a state of severe chakra exhaustion. His seal was only slightly weakened but not so much that the demon could break through. Minato wondered how Shukaku could affect Naruto so much with the seal fully intact. Minato looked up and to his surprise the moon was full and shining brightly. He figured it must have something to do with that.

"Hiashi how is Naruto doing?" Minato asked curiously, worried for his son's health.

"He is fine. His chakra coils are a bit over extended but nothing a few weeks in the hospital cannot fix." Hiashi stated calmly. Though his voice did betray a slight hint of concern. Minato let out a small sigh. His son would be okay. Hitomi came back with an unconscious Hinata in her arms.

"Hitomi, how is little Hinata doing?" Hiashi asked, fully allowing his voice to show concern. Hitomi smiled.

"She is doing fine. Just scared after what happen." Hiashi sighed in contentment.

"Good good. I cannot believe the ambassador from the Cloud was here only for her." Hiashi said with venom in his voice. Not a moment later a noise was heard coming from a hole inside of a building. The three adults looked over to the hole to see an Anbu with gravity defying white hair come out holding a barely conscious man in his hand.

"Lord Hokage, I was scanning the disruption when I stumbled upon this man. I believe him to be the culprit." Hiashi quickly looked over and studied the man before looking to Minato and nodding.

"That is him." Hiashi said with barely controlled anger. Minato nodded and stood up with Naruto in his arms.

"Take him to Torture and Interrogation and have Ibiki get what he can out of him when he wakes up." Minato said with a calm to his voice before turning to Hiashi and Hitomi "I am sorry to cut this short but I want to get him to the Hospital." They both nodded.

"We will be visiting him often. We are going to take Hinata home so that she may rest. I wish him a speedy recovery." Hitomi said and both bowed before turning to leave. Minato himself bowed slighty and left with haste to the hospital.

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[Naruto's Mindscape]

"Ow!" Naruto said as he sat up quickly and was confused as to why he was back in his mind. He looked around curiously. Yep, this most certainly his mind. The tell tale signs of sand every were proof enough. The whole place looked like a large pyramid with sand as the floor, random inscriptions littered the walls.

Shukaku woke up from his slumber and looked at Naruto curiously. Shukaku himself was just getting over the feeling of someone forcefully drawing on his chakra. It was a surprising and exhausting sensation.

**"****Oi pup, I was sleepin'. What was happen out there?"** Shukaku asked curiously, his loud voice booming over everything and echoing in the halls.

"Hinata was begin attacked I think. I remember him trying to kick her...after that I don't remember what happened." Shukaku lowered his head as a show to calm his host down from his visibly scared state.

**"****Calm down pup. I don't think he got away. You drew on my chakra. We must have got him"** Shukaku assured to Naruto who seemed to accept it well enough.

"Oh that makes sense I guess. I wonder where I am now. Or what even happened." Naruto said while his face screwed up in deep thought. Shukaku closed his eyes and thought about it as well. Neither of them could come up with answer. So Naruto thought, until he wakes up he may as well talk with Shukaku.

"Hey umm I'm embarrassed to ask this but uhh what is your name?" Shukaku just sat there and blinked once...then twice. What was it with these humans and thinking they could talk to him like another human. Shukaku sighed.

**"****I am the Ichibi, Shukaku."** he said with pride in his voice. **"****And I am stronger then that damned fox!"** He roared. Naruto looked up at the crazy Tanuki like he was. Well, like he was crazy.

"Fox?" Naruto asked curiously. Shukaku stopped his stomping around and ranting to look at Naruto.

**"****Yeah the Kyuubi?"** Shukaku said as if everyone would know what he was talking about. This served just to confuse Naruto even more so than he was before.

"Kyuubi? What is that?" Shukaku looked at the kid like he was the most sheltered person to ever exist but he had to remind himself that the Kyuubi was a rare sight.

**"****Pup, do you know what I am?"** Shukaku asked and Naruto shook his head. **"****I am a Tailed Beast. The first of nine. Kyuubi is the ninth."** Naruto nodded before a question entered his head.

"Wait Shukaku, if there are nine and you are the first does that make you the strongest?" Shukaku looked as though he might kill the kid at that point but sighed and shook his massive head.

**"****No pup. Each of us are better at things than others but our strength is often counted by our tails. Making me the weakest."** He growled as he let that out. **"****But I am not weak! I have the strongest defense!"** Shukaku roared proudly. Naruto looked at him curiously for a moment.

"How do you have the best defense?" Naruto asked innocently enough. Shukaku calmed down and motioned to Naruto to come closer to the bars.

**"****I control sand. As my host you get this ability too. In fact now that my chakra is known to your system I believe the protection sand ability is yours."** Naruto looked beyond confused at the last part. **"****Just ask ye pops for a large jar of sand. Ye will see what I mean!"** Shukaku stated proudly.

Naruto smiled and stuck his hand out in a fist. Shukaku eyed it but looked at the boy's face. That smile was one that believed in happiness and believed in himself, and by extension, in Shukaku. Shukaku smiled a feral smile and stuck his fist out and bumped it with Naruto.

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**AN: Chapter two done! Thank you to all for the support thus far. Means a lot to me. Next chapter will be up soon. Until then!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**AN: Let's just get on with the story eh?**

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Naruto opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. The blinding light above him coupled with the fact his eyes have been closed for a while made it unbearable. Naruto groaned as he turned on his side and covered his head with his pillow. The nurse walked in and smiled at the scene. Her patient was awake by the looks of it.

"Naruto, come on now. It's time to get up." The nurse asked in her most calm and nicest voice she could muster. She was a rather normal looking person for the most part with her short black hair and pale-ish skin. Something about the woman gave the air of a patient lady.

"Five more minutes please." Naruto sleepily droned out. The nurse smiled and flipped off the lights in room. Closing the door quietly she went to go and get the Hokage.

[Ten minutes later]

Minato walked into the room to see his sons prone sleeping form. He smiled and chuckled to himself. He walked in with the nurse from before carrying in a tray with various medicines and a plate of food.

"Naruto, come on son. Get up." Minato pleaded with his child and was rewarded with a slightly turning form of Naruto and a groan. Minato sighed and pulled the blanket off his son, who instantly curled up into a tighter ball. Minato groaned in frustration. Then an idea hit him.

"Naruto if you don't wake up this instant. I will never _ever_ take you to get ramen again." Minato said with a voice as serious as he could muster. Naruto slowly sat up and looked as though he had been shot, eyes wide with horror.

"W-what did you just s-say?" Naruto asked. Minato just smiled and patted his son on the head.

"Oh nothing you need to worry about." Naruto pouted due to the fact he was forcefully woken up. Minato sat down on a chair that was in the room and let the nurse do her job. Naruto turned and looked to her curiously, She wasn't dressed in the normal hospital outfit. Instead she wore a blue robe with white mixed in.

"Here you are Naruto. Take these pills and eat up afterwards." The lady bowed to both of them and left. Naruto grumbled and was about to push the stuff away but one look from his father was enough to ensure he didn't. Despite his protests he ended up taking the meds and eating the sub-par slop, as he put it. After he was done Minato decided to talk to him and fill him in before they were released.

"So Naruto how are you feeling?" Minato asked his son who was stretching at the moment.

"Fine I guess. Just a tad sore." Minato nodded.

"Well that should be expected. I mean you were in here for about two weeks." He said nonchalantly as if it were nothing. Naruto went wide-eyed at that statement.

"What?! Two weeks!?" Naruto asked in disbelief. Minato just chuckled.

"What did you expect? You were suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. You had to heal slowly, its not like you have some inhuman healing factor." Minato stated matter of factually. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest before he realized something.

"Wait! What happened to Hinata?!" He looked around panicked like he might magically find her. Minato just laughed loudly.

"Hinata is fine thanks to you. You stopped that kidnapper." His face turned grim as he mentioned the ambassador. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

Speaking of the little Hyuuga, right as Minato was explaining that Hinata was fine, Hiashi and Hitomi walked in. With Hinata in tow. Naruto turned and smiled at the group.

"Well it is nice to see you are up and feeling well." Hiashi said with his normal calm and collected voice.

"Yes it's nice to see my daughters savior feeling better." Hitomi said with a smile, gently pushing little Hinata forward.

"I-It is n-nice to s-s-see you again." The girl stammered out with a painfully obvious blush on her face. Naruto seemed more confused than anything.

"It's nice to see you too but why are you so red Hinata?" Naruto asked, generally curious as to why she was red. This served to make the girl blush even more so.

"I do believe it is from an attra-"

"A desire to be your friend." Hitomi said when she cut her husband off. Hinata breathed a huge sigh of relief while Hiashi just looked at her puzzled. Hitomi gave him a look that told him they would talk about it later.

"Oh that makes sense! I want to be her friend too!" Naruto said with a wide smile. Minato smiled as he thought to himself _'If only you could see deeper than that.'_

"Onward to other business. Naruto, on behalf of the Hyuuga Clan I thank you for saving my daughter and would be honored if you would consider us and our clan as your friends and allies." Hiashi said with a humble tone and a slight bow. Minato kept his expression neutral but couldn't help but be proud of the boy. He had made friends with a Clan. And he was only five.

"Sure! Uh I mean thank you Hiashi. I too would be honored." Naruto said as he bowed his head slightly in return. The three Hyuuga smiled in return.

"It is settled then. I am sorry to cut this short but we must be going now. I am sure we will see you around." The three bowed before heading out.

"Oh good! See ya!" Naruto waited for the others to leave. "So uh when am I getting out of here?" Naruto asked while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Minato just smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"You are free to go after I talk to you about one more thing." Naruto sat up and began to pay attention. "Naruto do you remember anything of that night?" Minato asked his son hoping he did.

Naruto thought about it seriously for a moment. "I remember feeling the ground being stepped on and something about it felt wrong. So I went to go check it out and ran into that guy. Hinata asked for someone to help her and he tried to kick her. I remember wanting that guy to stop and something stopped his foot from hitting her." Naruto concluded with a nod to show he was satisfied with his answer.

"You don't remember anything after that?" Minato asked cautiously just in case this was sensitive to him still.

"No not really. Only bits and pieces that make no sense." Naruto said with a tilted head. Questioning silently why his father was asking this.

"Naruto have you ever wondered about the seal that is on your belly?" Minato asked and the look Naruto gave confirmed his thoughts. "That seal on your belly is one that holds a Tailed Beast within it. You hold-" Minato was cut off as Naruto blurted something out after connecting the thoughts.

"Wait you mean Shukaku!?" Naruto asked excitedly. Minato sat there stunned that his son would know about his beast so easily.

"Yes I do. How do you know about him?" Minato asked, generally curious if the beast could talk with him yet.

"Well he would talk to me sometimes. I never understood how he did and could never understand it. After I saved Hinata I went to the sandy place and he told me his name." Naruto said feeling fairly happy with his answer. Minato nodded and smiled.

"Good. I assume he told you about his sand right?" Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Yep! He told me to ask you to get me a jar or something of sand." Minato nodded.

"Hmm I see. Tell you what. I have to go back to the tower for a few hours. I will give you a bit of money so you can go eat ramen while you wait. I'll meet you at home and I'll have what you need by then. Sound good?" Minato asked seriously. Naruto, upon hearing the word ramen, agreed rather quickly. Minato laughed and set some money on the bed, told his son he was proud of him for what he did, and flashed back to tower. Naruto hopped out of the bed, got dressed in his robe, and went to quickly to the ramen stand.

Naruto exited the hospital quickly but slowed down to walk the streets at the normal pace. He didn't want to draw attention to himself lest he get mauled by the virtual horde of people wanting to praise him. That was the better crowd. Sometimes he would run into the people that saw him as the demon Shukaku. Those people rarely ever came at him due to his father.

As Naruto was walking to the ramen shop he decided to ask his companion a question.

_'Hey Shukaku.' _Naruto thought to himself, hopping it would reach his contained beast.

**"****Yes pup?"** Shukaku asked. Curious as to what he may want.

_'Besides the Fox. Are you on good terms with any of the others?' _Shukaku blinked a few times.

**"****Can't say I am pup. None of us really get along."** Naruto was about that.

_'I wonder why?' _Shukaku shrugged in his cage.

**"****No clue pup."** Naruto nodded and turned to his favorite shop to eat, a smile threatening to break his face on the edges.

[][][][]

Meanwhile at the Hokage's office, Minato was dealing with a rather tense political situation. The ambassador, Tarnai, had woken up less than a week ago. Tarnai was a high Jonin level ninja from the hidden Cloud village. It had taken Ibiki and Anko over four days to break him. He begrudgingly admitted that he was there to take a main branch Hyuuga, in this case Hinata, and take them back to make them a breeding farm for her bloodline.

Minato knew that the Cloud was in the wrong here but he still had to play it safe. Konoha was still trying to maintain it's balance after the Shukaku attack. They weren't exactly weak but they weren't at their peak yet. The Cloud knew this and attempted to capitalize on this with the Hyuuga theft. On the other hand Minato couldn't let them get off scott free either. He had to think of a way to settle this without either side taking major damage.

A knock on his door drew Minato out of his thought train. He let them in and it revealed to be Ibiki and Tarnai. Minato had Ibiki shut the door and had him give a brief assessment of his progress to see if there were any changes. After such Minato sat in his chair and eyed the man carefully.

"Tarnai, you confessed to attempting to steal a main branch member of the Hyuuga for your village. Do you deny this?" Minato knew the answer but he had to make a point. Tarnai grit his teeth hard against each other.

"Yes it's true. And I'd do it again!" Tarnai proclaimed but a nice right hook from Ibiki shut him up rather quickly. Minato sighed.

"You are telling me you would attempt this again knowing full well you would have to fight that boy again?" Minato asked, hoping to play on his fear of Naruto. Tarnai betrayed his inner feelings by shivering slightly.

"That was no boy. That was a demon!" Minato's expression hardened. He began to slowly let his killer intent leak.

"I would advise you not to mock this village's hero again." He made a quick glance to Ibiki who delivered a swift knee to the man's stomach, causing him to drop to his knees. "Now I am going to let you leave fire country, under watch till you hit the boarder of course, and if you so much as hint that you plan on going elsewhere you will be executed. You tell the Raikage that you are no longer allowed in this country and you will have a kill on sight order. Tell him he better have a good excuse for coming through here for a while. Dismissed." Minato waved his hand and Ibiki picked him up and the two left. He sighed and rubbed his temples. He could see how Hiruzen would have trouble with this job. But for now he had something to do for his son.

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Naruto got home a few hours ago after he had his ramen. He was feeling full and content so he thought a nap might do him some good. When Minato walked in he saw his son on the floor passed out and resting rather well. Minato laughed silently to himself and wish Kushina would have been alive to see him now. Shaking his head of that thought he woke Naruto up.

"Naruto, time to wake up!" Minato made sure to make his voice loud and booming. Naruto awoke with a startled expression but relaxed and stretched when he noticed it was just his dad. Naruto walked over to his dad, who was smiling widely. As he got closer his dad moved to the side and revealed a large gourde. Naruto couldn't explain it but he could tell that there was sand inside of that gourde. Naruto practically ran to hug his dad, knocking over some cloths in the process.

Naruto eyed the cloths with an odd look. It was a mesh armor under shirt with a black t-shirt over it. There was also black pants, a little baggy but not too much so, and black shinobi sandals. There was a bright orange sash that went around the waste and was clearly long enough to tie around the sand gourde as well. Naruto looked over to it and Minato nodded. (Think Gaara's outfit but instead of white and red it's orange.)

"Go on and get dressed. We can practice this sand stuff afterwards." Naruto could not move fast enough to rush to go get changed. Once he was changed the two went out side. Minato tied the sand gourde on and noticed that is was clearly far to heavy for him. He went to take it off but Naruto saw it as a form of weight training so he kept it on.

"Alright Naruto. What can you do with it that you know of?" Minato asked in a calm manner trying to analyze the possibilities of moves he could use the sand for.

"Well Shukaku said that the sand would protect me at all times." Naruto said and looked confused about his own words. Minato nodded and thought he would try something.

"Naruto I am going to throw a kunai near you. Don't move though." Naruto visibly gulped but stood still. Minato threw the kunai about five inches to the left of Naruto's face. The reaction was instant. The sand came ripping through the air and blocked the kunai without allowing it to get within a foot radius of it's host. Naruto stood there mouth agape as the sand retreated back into the jar, the cork landing just a few feet away from him.

"Well that was interesti-"

"That was awesome!" Naruto loudly interupted his father. Minato merely nodded in agreement with his son.

"Why don't you try to shape it?" Naruto nodded and the sand came pouring out and Naruto lifted both hands to the sky. The sand responded by creating two sand pillars that reached up to the sky. He quickly had them drop due to his chakra control on the sand. He had a load of chakra and his control was bad but it could be worked on with practice. He chakra was far from unlimited but he would have more than most shinobi.

The two conditioned to work on his sand abilities but Minato would stress that he shouldn't rely on it too much. He would stress that a shinobi that relied too much on one thing tended to have that as a weak point. Naruto agreed and worked on his Taijutsu practice and forms.

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Three years passed quickly for the Namikaze members. With Naruto practicing with his sand and his imagination. He found out quickly that he could create just about anything he wanted to with it. Sometimes he would leave a sand clone of himself in bed when his dad came to check to make sure he was asleep. In reality he was out training and aiming to better himself physically.

Minato himself was not as free as he would have liked to been. The normal hustle and bustle of the village was ever present. Of course the rare oddity did pop up. The fact that all three Sannin were now outside the village walls was always present. Jiraiya did come by once every few months to report on the spy network. Tsunade sent letters letting Minato know she was still alright. Orochimaru...well let's leave him alone for now eh?

Anyway, it was during one of Jiraiya's visits that Minato began to fear for his child.

"What did you say?" Minato asked in complete disbelief. Jiraiya simply sighed and prepared to repeat what he had just said.

"You heard me. I said that while I was out and about in a small farming village I got a message. The message was that there was a group of S-ranked ninja that were gathering information on the Tailed Beasts and their Hosts." Minato's face instantly saddened. He had really hoped that the old man was just messing with him. The tone he was using though told him that he was not.

"A group specifically after people like Naruto? Wouldn't that be dangerous? I mean people like him normally have large chakra reserves and signature jutsu from their demon. These people would need to be above par to fight them." Minato said hoping to convince himself that messing with people like Naruto was a bad idea.

"From what I hear they are." Jiraiya's quick answer and tone were enough to deflate Minato's hopes. "What we should be working on is making the boy able to handle these types of things." Minato looked at him with a hard expression.

"There will be a time for that. You said these people weren't very active and were still just forming. Let Naruto go through the academy and live like a genin, form a team and bonds." Jiraiya frowned. He wanted to get started as soon as possible but he understood why. Minato wanted to let Naruto have a chance at a life before it had to be changed.

"It's your choice Minato and I'll respect it. I would just think about giving him a few tips here or there. At least get him started." Jiraiya stated in a concerned tone. Minato smiled widely at him.

"What do you think the academy is for?" Minato tilted his head and smiled. Jiraiya just laughed and the two moved on to less stressful topics. Meanwhile, Naruto was just making his way to the academy to start his ninja career there...

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Naruto had quite the smile on his face as he was walking over to the Academy. His outfit clung loosely to him without his gourde. His father insisted that he leave it at home due to it's size. Naruto instead was allowed to bring a bag full of sand instead. Not his first choice but it would work.

On his way to his first day he noticed that the people on the street seemed oddly animated this day. Shop owners were opening earlier and cooks were firing up the grills sooner. Naruto figured it was probably because the kids were back in school and off their backs.

Naruto shared a laugh with himself and redoubled his speed to the Academy. Hoping to make it there earlier enough so he could watch all the others who were in his class. A part of his felt a bit dejected about this. As he looked around he saw all the parents leading their children to the Academy and it made him jealous.

Naruto sighed to himself as he walked up the hill that the Academy. While he was upset, he wasn't about to let it ruin his day just because his dad was the Hokage and couldn't make it. Naruto lifted his head and to his great surprise, there stood his Father and Jiraiya.

"Dad! Pervy sage!" Naruto called out to the respective people. Minato smiled while Jiraiya more or less frowned.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Jiraiya asked sternly. Naruto looked at him just as sternly.

"The moment you give up being a pervert!" Naruto yelled back at him. Minato just smiled.

"Now Naruto is that anyway to treat an elder member of the Village?" Naruto looked up to his dad and instantly got the message.

"Oh right, my bad. I am sorry sir, perhaps I could assist you back to your retirement home?" Naruto asked with a strange amount of grace and practiced ease to his voice. Jiraiya simply scowled at the tone.

"That's not fair. Teaming up on poor old me like that." Jiraiya said in mock defeat while the Namikaze duo high fived each other.

"Are you ready Naruto? First day of class and all." Minato asked his son.

"Sure! I was kinda upset that you weren't going to be here on my first dad but now that you guys are here I am excited! I hope I get to see Hinata and Shino here too!" Naruto proclaimed with vigor. Over the years since they had met, the three became fast friends. Well at least for the case of Hinata and Naruto. Shino was still a mystery but he seemed to enjoy himself more around the other two so they accepted it.

"I am sure you will Naruto. Now get going and have fun!" Minato told his son as he took off running. Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Cherish these moments and enjoy them." Minato looked saddened by his Sensei's words but accepted them regardless.

Minato looked up and smiled as Naruto ran into the Academy.

_'Good luck my son.'_

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Naruto entered the room with ascending layers of chairs and desk with a smile. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this year but hoped when the kids came in they would be nice. On his way here Naruto overheard two teachers talking about this being the 'Year of the Heirs'. Whatever that meant. His dad never told him much about how clans work, considering they were the only two in their clan.

Smiling at his own thought Naruto quickly moved up to the top row and to the left and sat down. He had picked the seat closest to the window. He always liked to look outside and see the beauty the earth had.

Naruto was so distracted by his musings on Mother Earth and her beauty that he never even noticed when someone sat down next to him. Naruto was so startled when someone touched his shoulder that he verbally screamed.

"Gah!" Naruto yelled as he fell backwards out of his chair. Following the fall of Naruto was and equally loud 'Eep' that the aggressor let out. Naruto saw a flash of purple as he got his bearings. He sat up and noticed Hinata was still laying on the floor.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked in a low voice. Hoping she was not knocked out. "Hinata?" He asked in a far more concerned tone. He looked around and noticed no one was in the room to help him and Hinata was still laying there limp. Now the pressure was on. He sat still and really thought on what to do. It was a few minutes before he heard a noise. He got out of his chair and moved his face closer to Hinata to see if it was her.

Hinata was just coming to and her head slightly hurt from the fall. Of course, she had fainted from the sudden outburst from her long time crush. Hinata sunk into her own shell more as she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open to a most unusual sight. Naruto was literally mere inches away from her face. She instantly became flushed. _'N-Naruto is so close to my face!'_ The thought alone was almost enough to send her back in to darkness.

"Oh hey Hinata are you alright?" Naruto asked, entirely oblivious to the girls apparent blush.

"O-oh s-sorry for the s-scare. I a-am f-f-fine." the poor girl stammered out, Naruto having an extremely profound effect on her. Naruto gave her a feral smile and offered a hand to help her up. She took it rather fast which surprised Naruto. The two resumed their seating and watched as the other began to file in.

The first few to file in looked more like civilians than shinobi. Naruto guessed these people weren't from any apparent clan. The next three people to enter the room were a lazy looking boy with his hair tied back, a rather plump boy who enjoyed his potatoe chips a bit too much, and a platinum blonde with and exceedingly screechy voice.

"Gosh Shikamaru could you move any slower?!" the blonde yelled.

"Troublesome blonde." He mumbled underneath his breath.

"What was that?!" She hollered. Shikamaru simply waved his hand and took a window seat. The plump boy followed him and sat down next to him.

Shino was the next to enter, much to the joy of Naruto and Hinata, and much to the ire of the other kids. Most people had heard about the Aburame Clan due to their bugs. Most tended to be creeped out but Hinata and Naruto were not most people. Shino, rather quickly, took the empty seat next to Hinata and greeted his friends. Together they watched the remaining members enter.

There was a kid with a small dog and weird markings on his face. A girl with bubble gum colored hair, whom the blonde instantly began arguing with. Lastly a kid with dark hair and pale skin entered the room. All the females were immediately upon him and were hollering for dates. Among the loudest was the pink haired girl and the blonde girl.

This ramble was put down rather quickly as the teacher entered the room. Iruka Umino was a proud man due to his teacher profession and he took it very seriously. The kid's lives often depended on it.

"Settle down now class." Iruka spoke with such a booming voice that everyone listened."Now I would like to introduce myself. My name is Iruka Umino and I will be your teacher for the foreseeable future. I would like to take attendance and get to know you all. So when your name is called, say something about yourself for the others." He smiled and grabbed up a clipboard. He was dressed in the normal gear for a chunin. His brown hair was drew back in a ponytail and he donned a scar across his nose, memory of a past mission.

He went through a few names before he landed on Shino.

"Shino Aburame." Iruka called out inciting the bow to stand.

"My name is Shino Aburame from the Aburame Clan. I enjoy working with bugs of various kinds." He sat back down. Several of the girls shivered when he brought up mention of bugs. Iruka nodded to the boy and allowed him to sit. Iruka called and a boy named Choji had gone and professed his obvious love for food.

Iruka went through a few more names before landing on Hyuuga.

"Hinata Hyuuga." Iruka called out and looked for the corresponding student. Hinata stood and instantly blushed from the attention.

"M-my name i-is Hinata Hyuuga. I l-like f-flowers and..." She made a subtle glance to Naruto, that he missed entirely, but Shino did not. Iruka thanked her and she sat down. A few of the more nasty girls were making fun of her for her stutter. Naruto just smiled at her and she was able to ignore them.

The next up was the were the duo of the dog and his owner. One Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru. It was not surprise that he enjoyed working with his dog and his families dogs. A rather loud fellow as well but he seemed more bark than bite.

"Naruto Namikaze." Iruka asked an the entire room shut down in silence. Everyone knew the Namikaze name in Konoha, how could you not? Naruto stood slowly and noted that all eyes were on him. Typical.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze and I enjoy Earth and all it offers." Naruto sat back down with a heavy sigh. Most of the people in the room look enamored by him and they barely knew him. Sometimes he really hated the prestige that came with the name, Namikaze.

Hinata blushed when her friend went to introduce himself but became angry when she noted he looks some of the girls were giving him. He may not be hers but she wasn't about to let anyone else have him.

The rest of the day went off without much of a hassle. At the end of the day Naruto made an account of all the people worth noting in his class. There was Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno who went before Hinata but Naruto completely blocked her out, Chouji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Sasuke Uchiha and of course Naruto himself.

This year promised to be one to remember.

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**AN: Another one in the books. I felt a bit off writing this chapter. I don't know it just felt off to me no matter how much I changed it. Anywho, i'd like to answer a few questions before I end this. **

**One, Kurama plays an important role in the story and his mystery will be revealed later. Just hang in there. **

**Two, I hope by now it is noticeable that Naruto is much weaker than his cannon counterpart. This will come into play many times throughout the story. **

**With that being said the next chapter is on its way. Who knows, if I get enough reviews I may do a double release. Love the attention for the story I am getting as well! Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**AN: Here comes more in chapter four!  
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Time at the Academy proved to be something of confusion and competition for Naruto. The school work itself was difficult but not impossible. Naruto was by no means an idiot but he wasn't exactly the brightest. Sometimes Shukaku would help him answer questions on tests or in class. Even that was rare considering Shukaku is not the brightest demon ever.

The other half of his time was spent trying to avoid a certain group of girls and the last Uchiha. Naruto felt a little guilty from his train of thoughts because of what happened to the boy. That being said, it certainly didn't give him the right to act as stuck up and arrogant as he did.

Naruto did notice something else that drew a small amount of his attention. Hinata seemed to be becoming more and more shy as time went on. From what he heard from his father, Hiashi wasn't doing anything at home to make her like this. Naruto often pondered this mystery and it always eluded him.

Speaking of the Academy struggles, today was the day people would demonstrate their fighting prowess and jutsu abilities. Naruto was somewhat excited considering today he would get to show off his sand abilities. He was also a bit nervous because some people might consider him a freak or something for it's use. He couldn't blame them though. Sand jutsu is extremely rare to see.

Alas here they were. Iruka Umino's class of students who aspired to become genin. Everyone was gathered today and the energy filling the air was palpable. Some of the kids looked beyond worried that they may not measure up enough to be passing. Others looked as though this was the day they were most looking forward to. Either way, it was bound to be interesting.

Iruka stepped to the front of the mass of little people and spoke clearly and loudly "Okay students, today we will be performing a small jutsu demonstration followed up by a taijutsu sparring match." Some kids grinned at this while others paled.

"First, can anyone perform any jutsu of any kind?" Iruka asked, curious as to who may know something. Naruto was the first to jump up, Hinata (After being dragged up there by Naruto), Shino, Ino, and Chouji went up. Ino offered to go up first.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" The whole audience looked around, scanning the area, to see what the effect of the jutsu had been. They were relatively surprised when Shikamaru, who had been previously asleep, stood up and walked to the front of the class. Ino's slumped over body instantly sprung back to life as she released the jutsu. Shikamaru looked more that a little peeved.

"Ino, you troublesome woman, why did you drag me up here?" Shikamaru asked, acting more offended than he actually was. Ino simply crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Because you lazy bum, you know a jutsu!" Ino protested. Shikamaru seemed unmoved.

"So? Doesn't mean I want to show it." Shikamaru defended. Ino pouted.

"So does this mean you aren't going to show them?" Ino asked. Shikamaru grinned and made a hand sign.

"Shadow possession jutsu: Successful." Everyone wondered what exactly he meant when they noticed Ino was standing exactly like Shikamaru was. Shikamaru did a little dance, which was mirrored perfectly by Ino, before he released it. Ino looked more that pissed but before she could act on it, Iruka spoke up.

"Good job both of you!" Iruka said with a smile. Shikamaru and Ino both went back to sit down in the grass, Ino berating him the entire way.

"Alright then, who is next?" Iruka asked and Chouji raised his hand.

When Iruka called on him his hand expanded to a massive size for a few seconds before condensing back to normal size. That earned him a few claps and cheers. Chouji smiled and went to go sit down next to Shikamaru, smiling the whole time.

"Next?" Iruka called out and Shino stepped forward.

Shino lifted his sleeves and a horde of black bugs came bursting out of the sleeves. To everyone's horror and apparent disgust, the bugs made an exact clone of Shino. Naruto and Hinata cheered Shino on while the rest looked rather sickly. Iruka smiled at Shino and instructed him to sit back down, the bugs returning to their host.

"Who wants to go next?" Hinata shakily stepped forward and claimed the attention of the class.

Hinata flushed immediately at the attention she was getting and looked back to Naruto. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Hinata looked forward and performed the hand seals necessary to activate he family bloodline ability.'Byakugan' she whispered. The veins around her eyes bulged and she was rewarded with an entire view of almost everything around her, including Naruto's smile. Sasuke eyed the scene carefully and seemed to be satisfied with her, much to the dismay of the fan-club. Hinata deactivated her jutsu and sat back down.

"Alright boys, which one of you is going to go first?" Iruka asked and much to the fan-club's enjoyment, Sasuke went first.

"Fire style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled out calmly and shot a rather hefty fireball into the sky. The girls squealed in delight while some of the civilian boys cheered on at how 'awesome' it was. The Uchiha grunted and turned to Naruto was a face that spoke 'Try to top that.' Naruto was far to happy to accept his challenge.

Naruto unzipped his bag for the first time since school started. The sand slowly crawled out of the bag and made it's way towards the sky. More and more poured out. Eventually the bag was empty and the ball in the sky was roughly twice the size of Sasuke's fireball. Naruto broke it off into little chunks and had them form four clones of Naruto. The cheers of class rivaled that of the Uchiha, who seemed extremely miffed by this moved. Naruto recalled his sand and took a mock bow.

"Well that was certainly interesting. Thank you everyone who performed for the class. Now we will move onto the taijutsu section of the day." this was greeted with a roar of applause and satisfaction.

The sparring matches of the day went as well as could be expected. People were paired up and fought each other with whatever they could muster. Obviously, some of the kids from the ninja families did better than most did. Still, to the credit of some of the civilian kids, they held their own.

It came at no surprise that the Uchiha was at the top of the sparring ladder with Kiba quickly behind him and Shino behind him. Naruto was fourth on the list due to his rather lack luster skills in taijutsu. What was most surprising was that Shino was on the list at all. Most did not expect him to be able to hold his own so well. He just politely reminded them that he had a colony of people to protect.

Hinata was the top of the kunoichi fighting ladder. Though Hinata didn't think that it was such a big deal, mostly because the girls weren't the best at fighting. Naruto and Shino insisted on telling her that she was still number one and the best among the girls. This of course caused the girl to blush a brilliant crimson color.

The rest of the day was spent on resting and learning more about the academy style of taijutsu that was taught to those who did not have a family form. Naruto found it to be a rather flexible style that could easily be adapted to anyone's personal style. He would look into this more on a later date.

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Naruto got home and had a question burning on his mind that he thought his dad might be able to answer. He dropped off his bag of sand and strapped on his gourde, for weight training of course, and took off to the Hokage's tower with haste.

Minato was currently in combat with a deadly enemy. Every time Minato would dodge or finish off one of the enemies another ten would come back. No matter how hard he tried it seemed the mess of killers would never go away. Minato was about to give up hope and accept death when he heard a knock on the door.

Naruto walked into the office and instantly regretted it. His father was currently standing on his desk and had a Rasengan in his hand mere inches away from a stack of papers. Needless to say, this caused Naruto to sweatdrop at his father's actions.

"I'll come back later." Naruto turned to leave the office.

"No don't! I need someone to distract my mind from this... mess of paperwork. What did ya need Naruto?" Minato pleaded with his son, who sighed and walked in, shutting the door tightly behind him.

"I had a question to ask about my..._kind_." Naruto said with slight emphasis on the last word. Minato nodded, hopped off the table and sat down, and motioned Naruto to do the same. Naruto sat down swiftly but looked extremely curious.

"Okay, and what about them?" Minato questioned, curious as to what his son may want to know.

"Have you ever met another of my kind?" Naruto curiously asked, hoping to get an answer. Minato nodded.

"Yes I have. The Cloud has two I believe. I met the Eight tails host. Killer Bee." Minato said grimly.

"And?" Naruto pushed, hoping to get more out of his father.

"Naruto let me put it to you this way. You have a large pool of chakra, you really do, far more than most people due to the Ichibi. But this man had far more chakra than I could ever imagine. It was so strong. It would have easily drowned out your chakra in a heart beat." Naruto looked down, saddened by the fact that he was the weakest host of the current eight, exception is that Kyuubi has yet to be put into a host.

"I-I see." Naruto's voice was shaking. He had the strongest chakra of anyone in the village with the exception of his Father, Jiraiya, the Sandaime and Tsunade when she was in town. A few jonin may have stronger chakra but he had yet to met them. It was rather humbling.

"Naruto don't let that get you down at all. You will still grow up to be one of the strongest ninja this village has ever seen." Naruto smiled at his father and his attempt to make him feel better.

"Right Dad. I will do my best!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air. Minato smiled at him.

"Well go on home now. I will be there soon and you can tell me all about your day, okay?" Naruto nodded and quickly left to go home.

Minato chuckled at his son as he left and turned back to the paper work, forming a Rasengan in his hand.

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While waiting at home Naruto decided to meditate and speak with Shukaku, something his father taught him to help with his connection to the beast.

"Hey Shukaku." Naruto called out to the sandy prison his beast was locked up in.

**"****Hello pup."** Shukaku said with a bit less enthusiasm than normal.

"Something bothering you?" Naruto asked, curious as to the Tailed Beast's feelings. It was certainly odd for a host to be so close with their demon. They were almost friends.

**"****I just don't like being called the weakest!"** He roared obviously displeased with what the Yondaime had said about him.

"I know you don't and neither do I. But there is only one thing we can do." Naruto said in a firm voice that held no traces of backing down.

**"****Oh and what be that pup?"** Shukaku lofted an eyebrow. Or at least where one would be.

"We become stronger!" Naruto said it as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Shukaku starred at him for a moment. Was he trying to console him? Part of him wanted to lash out and forcefully dominate Naruto's mind for assuming he was so weak that he needed to get stronger. But the other half of him knew that he was not trying to offend him, but trying to ease his pain.

**"****And how do ye say we do that? I can't exactly grow more tails to get better."** Shukaku said with a hint of sarcasm and malice in his voice. Naruto just grinned at him.

"Of course not! We will train!" Shukaku seriously could not hold back his laughter anymore and laughed as loud as he could. For quite some time too. Naruto was actually beginning to feel offended by his laughter.

**"****Sorry pup but that is funny! You do know I can't exactly train right?" **Shukaku asked while stifling a few laughs.

"And why not?" Naruto asked, curious as to why he wouldn't want to better himself.

**"****I am a mass of chakra pup. I can't really get better."** Naruto frowned at this.

"Can you think and learn?" Shukaku looked somewhat irritated by this.

**"****Yes pup what is your point?"** Naruto smiled up at him.

"Then you can get better! Think smarter and fight better!" Shukaku blinked, was that actually true? Shukaku could learn of course, he did have a memory, but could he actually become a more focused being? After all he was known as the wild one from the Tailed Beast Family.

**"****I...guess so pup."** Naruto jumped up in the air in victory.

"There we go! We can show them that Shukaku and Naruto are not to be messed with!" Shukaku grinned widely.

**"****Yahoooo!"** Shukaku howled like an animal at the moon. After a moment he calmed down and looked at Naruto. **"****If you want to get better pup then we need to work on our connection."**

"What's that?"

Shukaku grinned and began explaining.

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When Minato got home he noticed Naruto was passed out on the couch in the living room, gourde and all. He must have been truly exhausted for him to fall asleep like that. Minato decided to let him rest and relax after a surely stressful day. He noted the smile on his son's face and quietly went up to his own bed and fell asleep, equally exhausted.

When the next morning rose he decided to take his son out for breakfast ramen. While there his son spilled all the details of his day at school the previous day. Minato was sure he exaggerated a few details, like making a hundred sand clones, but was other wise happy he enjoyed him. Sadly his son still seemed just as oblivious to the Hyuuga heir's feelings for him. Either way, such wisdom would come with time. At least he hopped so.

Alas the moment of Father and Son bonding had to come to a close. The sound of people gathering and heading off in the direction of the Academy was the sign that school was beginning soon and he would have to get ready. Minato wished his son a happy and fun day and flashed away. Naruto grumbled and swore he would come up with something better than that and use it all the time too!

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The rest of the school year drifted by at a rather easy speed and pace. The classes were always spread out among the various aspects of being a ninja. Some of these concepts were lost to Naruto. It wasn't that he wasn't paying attention it was simply that he couldn't do some of these. Genjutsu and Kenjutsu proved to be the hardest for him.

Genjutsu was rough due to the fact that he simply could not use that little of chakra on anything. Now while this may be a bad thing it was not from the lack of chakra control. Controlling the sand the way he did added volumes to his chakra control. But it was still no where near enough to use in combat.

Kenjutsu was just an off subject for him. He could use the standard kunai and shuriken without much of a problem. Using a weapon in combat just seemed to be a waste for him. In all likelihood Naruto could create anything he needed using his sand. Plus no one could ever really get that close to him to use such a weapon.

Although the section about tactics seemed to be interesting to not only Naruto but Shukaku as well. As a team they both tried to learn as much as they could an apply it to real situations to make their brains stronger. Of course they were both relatively more on the less intelligent side of the spectrum they still tried. Progress was being made. Just at a slow pace.

Speaking of the sand duo. The two began to see each other more as partners in a common cause than beast and host. It was far from friendly of course but Naruto could tell the beast had a soft spot for Naruto. The two also began to work on their Tailed Beast connection when they had the time, which was not as often as he may have wanted.

Shukaku found it to be much easier to speak with Naruto and hold a detailed conversation with the boy without the seal cutting him out. It was also much easier for their chakra to mix and mingle, increasing Naruto's chakra reserves a bit in the process. Shukaku was still a Tailed Beast and as such had a pride and a reputation that simply would not allow him to be at Naruto's beck and call. If he wanted his respect then Naruto would have to earn it. That being said he still was gratefully he wasn't locked up in a crazy kid, so helping Naruto here and there was allowed.

Yes the school year was zooming by and before they knew it the day of graduation was upon them. Unlike when attendance was being called, this was a randomized call. Naruto never could guess the reason but it seemed to do the job of unnerving the other genin hopefuls.

"I'm so excited!" Naruto proclaimed as he jutted his hand into the air. Hinata giggled at him and Shino nodded.

"I can agree to that logic Naruto." Shino said with the skin on his cheeks slightly raised, he was smiling just a bit.

"Me t-too." Hinata spoke in her most confident voice to date. Both Shino and Naruto looked to her and she began pushing her fingers together. Naruto laughed.

"No need to be so shy Hinata! I bet you'll do the best out of the girls!" Naruto said with a voice that made it seem like such a sure fire thing to those around him. Shino merely nodded in agreement.

"Y-you think s-so?" Hinata asked with her face still downcast.

"It seems to be the most logically course of action. Of course there is always room for deviation but based on my observations over the course of four years, I doubt it." Shino stated. Both of them nodded knowing exactly what he was saying. Being around him so much had to account for something right?

"Hinata Hyuuga." A chunin called out. Hinata paled slightly and went into the testing room. Her face reddened when she heard Naruto call out 'You got this Hinata!'

Naruto and Shino were discussing the various populations of kikai bugs that Shino used. Shino was more than happy to describe the various uses they had and the various types. Naruto found it useful in a way. It was like and extension of Shino. Much like Naruto and his sand. It was around this time that Hinata returned. Sporting her new headband around her forehead.

"See I knew you could do it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes I am in agreement with Naruto. It seems like my initial observations of your skills were accurate." Shino stated, congratulating her in his own way. Hinata simply blushed at the praise of her teammates.

"T-thank y-you both." Shino nodded but Naruto just looked at her with a critical eye. Hinata let her eyes travel to the floor and her fingers press against each other.

"Hey Hinata look at me for a second." Naruto asked in a soft voice. Hinata looked up with a crimson face and nervous fingers. Naruto reached around her head and slightly loosened her headband and let it fall down to her neck. Naruto smiled and gave an approving nod to his little change.

"There! I think that looks better on you Hinata! Don't you Shino?"

"In terms of aesthetics I am not normally one to care or prefer one style over the over. This style does seem more fitting to your personality." Shino added. Hinata blushed again and thanked them both for their kind words.

"Shino Aburame." The same chunin called out. Shino nodded to his friends and went inside the testing room.

Hinata and Naruto were talking about what the future may hold for their little group. Hinata was hoping to get a team with Shino and Naruto with a Sensei that could make her strong enough to impress her father. Naruto wanted someone who would help him improve enough to get set on the track to Hokage. He wanted someone who would treat him like an equal and not as 'The Honored Son of the Hokage'. Hinata could only nod in agreement as she too hated being revered like that. In short time Shino came back donning his own new headband.

"Hey! Shino you did it!"

"Are you saying that in some way you doubted my ability to pass this exam?" Shino asked in his normal and controlled tone. Though to those who knew him knew he was being somewhat sarcastic. Naruto smirked and patted his friend on the back. Hinata nodded in agreement.

A few more kids went in and out of the testing area. Each with different looks leaving. Some had obviously passed the test by the headband. Others looked to as if they failed and knew it, if only by a little. It wasn't until he was one of the last kids left that Naruto was called.

"Naruto Namikaze." This was his moment. Time to shine!

Naruto dashed inside, excited to get his test under way. When he walked in he was surprised to see Iruka accompanied by the same chunin that called him for the test.

"Hello Naruto. Are you ready?" The blonde nodded quickly.

"Very well. Please perform a henge." Naruto nodded and thought of a henge that would be interesting to perform. Deciding on one he performed the series of hand seals needed for the jutsu. There was large plume of smoke when it was complete. Iruka and the nameless chunin watched in mild interest to see whom he may have shifted into. When the smoke cleared there stood Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin, in perfect form.

"Very good Naruto and nice choice. Next perform a substitution." Naruto nodded and focused on the desk behind him. Within moments the two swapped places.

"Alright and lastly create a clone." This gave Naruto pause. His dad and him practiced quite often trying to get this technique down. But as the two practiced they found out that Naruto had far too much chakra for such a simple jutsu. So instead they devised something else.

Naruto brought his hands together in the ram seal and suddenly there was a large puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared Naruto was there accompanied by a perfect clone of himself. Both were smiling with their thumbs up. Iruka smiled.

"Congratulations Naruto, you passed. I am honored to present you with this headband and proclaim you a shinobi of the leaf." Iruka handed him a headband on a black cloth. Naruto quickly tied it to his head and walked out the door with his clone. Once the door shut, the sand clone quickly went back into the bag.

As he was walking back he saw both Shino and Hinata there. Only this time they were joined by Minato and Jiraiya. He quickly ran back to receive his praise.

"Hey guys look! I passed!" Naruto proclaimed loudly.

"G-good job!"Hinata sputtered out, surprised at his sudden entrance. Shino merely nodded.

"Good job son! Another step on the path to Hokage is done." Minato said with a smile as he ruffled his sons hair, earning quite the look from his son. Jiraiya simply scoffed.

"Yeah good job kid." Naruto just gave him a look.

"Man you really are grumpy. You must be letting your age get to you." Minato bit back a laugh.

"Naruto! Y-you should b-be nicer to h-him. H-he is a S-Sannin." Jiraiya gave her an approving nod with a smile.

"Yeah kid, you should be more respectful to me. Maybe you should start listening to your girlfriend." Naruto gave him a scowl.

"Hinata isn't my girlfr-"

"Naruto, Why did you not inform me of your affectionate pursuit with our mutual friend Hinata?" Shino said with a raised eyebrow.

"She isn't my-"

"Yes Naruto, please explain why you choose not to inform me that you were courting my daughter." Hiashi said, surprising everyone with his sudden appearance. Naruto looked red in the face from embarrassment. Hinata looked to be about two seconds away from passing out.

"Gah!" Naruto screamed out in frustration. Everyone except Hinata, Naruto and Shino decided it was a worthwhile joke and laughed. Later on that day the three families got together and celebrated properly.

That night before bed Naruto began to wonder what tomorrow would hold for him and his friends. He deeply wanted to be paired up with his friends but he knew the odds of that happening. He fell asleep that night with a hopeful smile.

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**AN: I decided to be nice anyway and post this chapter a day earlier than normal. Hope you like it! Until next time!  
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	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**AN: Here we go!**

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Naruto woke up with a start and descended the stairs with a youthful vigor and grace that would make Maito Guy cry. Okay that was maybe a miss tell of it. Naruto woke up due to his father calling him. He stumbled, rolled, and fell out of bed trying to get ready. Once dressed he rushed out out his door and tripped on some clothes on the floor. He fell promptly and rolled all the way down the steps. His father just laughed the entire time and was on the verge of tears by the time Naruto got downstairs.

Naruto ate breakfast with little class and grace. He strapped on his gourde and took off at the door, his father waving by to him before flashing away. Naruto rocketed through the streets of Konoha. All while holding a massive smile on his face that may have freaked some people out. Before he knew it, he was at the Academy and bursting through the front door. Much to his dismay he was not the first one there.

Hinata jumped slightly when she heard someone come crashing through the door. She relaxed instantly when Naruto was there. Naruto dashed up to her in a blur of black and blonde, wrapping her up in an bone crushing hug.

"This is the day Hinata!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. He looked up to Hinata who seemed to be a bit more pale that normal. Remembering he was crushing the life out of her, he let go and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that Hina-"

He was knocked out of his sentence when Hinata gave him a soft hug. Naruto hugged her back, if a bit awkwardly.

"I-I know. Im e-excited." Hinata said quietly so that only he could hear him. Something felt a tad off to Naruto. He was used to hugging Hinata, they had been friends for years after all, but this felt more warm than normal. It was confusing. Which of course was why he was glad when she finally let go and sat down, her face burning red. Naruto sat down next to her and began telling her about a dream he had where they were all super ninja that were the best in the land!

Roughly an hour went by and the room was soon bursting with energy and excitement. Everyone in the room was curious as to who they may get for their jonin instructor. Naruto heard rumors of a few of them like Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kurenai Yuuhi. They all sounded like wonderful choices for teacher, each a master in their own field.

Pretty soon Iruka walked in and the room turned dead silent. Heck, a graveyard seemed like a dance party compared to this moment. Iruka sighed, wishing he got this kind of attention when he was teaching the kids throughout the years. Iruka set his paper down with a smile.

"Today you will all leave the Academy and go on to be shinobi for Konohagakure no Sato. It is a tremendous honor and one that I love. I will not lie to any of you. Some of you may die while others are forced to live with your memory. It is often a thankless job but make no mistake. It is without a doubt worth it. To know you are part of something that have been alive for years it simply amazing. When I look in this room I see kids who went from being sloppy children to Shinobi capable of carrying on the Will of Fire. Make the best of it and do your village proud!" Iruka concluded with a fist pump. The class room exploded with roars of applause and acceptance. Naruto joined in this too for a moment before the point of those words hit him. He felt pride and warmth swell inside of him.

"Now, how about we let you know what your teams will be?" This earned silence and nods from the genin.

Iruka quickly began rattling off the names of a few teams. Some seemed happy with the choice while others seemed completely crushed by this.

"Hinata Hyuuga." Iruka spoke and Naruto cursed to himself for missing the team number.

"Shino Aburame." Naruto slumped heavily in his chair. He figured when those two were on a team it was more likely to be a tracking team. Naruto considered himself capable of being able to track people. Shukaku gave Naruto a keen sense as was common for Demon Host. Also, Naruto could practically feel the earth and those moving on it. This sense didn't stretch very far though but he figured a way around this. By injecting his sand into the ground and spreading it through out an area he could feel vibrations through the sand. Chakra intensive but worthwhile to have a map of the battlefield and the enemy at all times.

"And Naruto Namikaze." Naruto practically jumped out of his seat with a loud 'Yahoo.'

"Your Jonin sensei..." Naruto, Hinata, and Shino listened with great care and their expressions changed from waiting to excited when they heard who it was.

"Will be Kakashi Hatake."

Naruto was lost in a moment bliss when he heard that. He of course knew who Kakashi was. His father had him over a couple of times to watch Naruto when he was younger. Naruto knew his reputation as a Jonin was very well earned. This left Naruto with the burning question. Why was he selected to be their sensei?

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[A few weeks prior to graduation]

Every capable jonin that could successfully raise a team. Some were more low end jonin with little field experience while others were legend among the shinobi world. Minato stood in the meeting hall with an aura of respect and authority. It was deeply important to him that the proper students be placed with the proper teachers. After all, putting people with teacher who could not help them reach their full potential was almost like suicide. And that would simply not do.

When everyone had arrived and seated themselves Minato scanned the room. He was pleased to see that so many wanted to try and earn experience as a teacher. It did his heart good. What he did notice was he own Student was there. Minato of course allowed him to take on a team but it was hardly any use. He failed all of his teams using the same test Minato himself used.

Minato sighed more towards himself but decided to think on that later. Right now he had the future of Konoha to assign.

"Hello and thank you all for coming. Thank you for opening yourselves up and willingly teach genin. With that being said it is tradition that I allow the Jonin to make a bid for whichever student they want. As long as you provide detailed reasoning I will consider your argument fairly." Minato concluded and a few jonin began to talk among themselves.

Minato thought about each and every genin that has graduated and their apparent skill sets. When a jonin asked for a group Minato would go and get the files for the three. Minato would then compare the three with the Jonin sensei hopeful. After relaying the statistics Minato would then allow the Jonin to make his case. Sometimes they were worthwhile cases and made good sense. Those were the ones that earned that team. Others were not so good and were let down easy by Minato.

The big shock to everyone, including Minato, was when Kakashi specifically asked for a team that caught his eye.

"As the Jonin in charge of Team Seven I would like to request Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame and Naruto Namikaze to form a tracking team." The room became dead silent. This was broke when Minato finally spoke up.

"Well then, allow me to go and get the folders." It just so happened that these three were already put aside and ready to go.

"Now let's see here. Hinata Hyuuga, heir to the Hyuuga clan. Proficient in Taijutsu and chakra control. Decent in kunai and shuriken. Ranked fifth in the class, Highest among the girls in the class. Next up is Naruto Namikaze. Heir to the Namikaze Clan. Passing Taijutsu but could be improved. Able to control sand. Rank fourth among the class. Decent in kunai and shuriken. Lastly, Shino Aburame. Heir to the Aburame Clan. Decent in Taijutsu. Control kikai like the rest of his family. Proficient in kunai and shuriken. Ranked third among his class."

Minato paused for a moment and let the information sink in to the rest of the people in the room. Most were impressed that he had managed to speak of his own son without adding emotion into it. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Now why do you believe that you could teach these three? Furthermore I would figure this to be more suited to Kurenai. She does seem more suited for the design of a tracking team with her flexible skill set." the aforementioned red eye lady stepped forward and cleared her throat as well.

"Actually Lord Hokage, I was going to ask for Kiba instead of Naruto." Kurenai said in an even tone.

"I would actually reconsider that." Kakashi stated defensively, earning quite the glare from Kurenai.

"Why is that Kakashi?"

"Well that would disrupt the order. Kiba had the lowest scores in the academy. Sasuke had the highest while Sakura was the smartest among the girls. I believe that is a tradition among the academy." Kakashi said with a lazy tone.

"You aren't wrong." Minato said offhandedly wondering were his student was going with this.

"Also, Sasuke is an Uchiha, who have impressive chakra control, making them suited to handle Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. He also seems to have a talent for offensive fighting. Sakura is a genius with intelligence and impressive control on her chakra. She would be able to learn Genjutsu with almost no problems. Kiba is an Inuzuka and with his partner could easily attack many enemies at once. Together these genin would make an excellent strike force and front line fighters. Kurenai is a level headed Jonin and would be able to properly guide them without her emotions blocking her judgment, both on and off the battlefield." Kakashi concluded.

Minato thought about it and he was actually right. While Kurenai herself isn't much of a frontline fighter the others were. But Kurenai was still a jonin and knew more than her fair share of attacks and tricks. Minato motioned for him to continue.

"I believe I would be the best choice to lead a tracking team. I have former experience in Anbu, which as you know tracks many people of various strengths and skills. I also have the dog summoning contract which is also extremely useful for tracking and picking up lost scents. As for the genin they are perfect for tracking and capturing enemies." Upon seeing the confused look from the Hokage, he pushed on.

"Hinata has the Byakugan which allows her to see in every direction far beyond her own line of sight. With her family style of fighting she can effectively shut down and incapacitate and enemy without killing them. Shino has the kikai bugs that his family is vastly known for. He is able to track people by placing females on them and the bugs have a sense of smell to alert when an enemy is near. The bugs are also able to drain chakra, thus ending the fight and capturing the objective. Naruto can control sand and that itself is enough to wrap enemies up and capture them. He is also acutely aware of all his surroundings and the vibrations of the earth. If they are traveling along the ground or things connected to the ground he will know about it." Kakashi finished and resumed his lazy posture.

It was amazing to most that he would put in the time and effort into thinking about this and setting it up the way he did. To the other jonin he was a man plagued by his laziness and sense of regret over the past. To see him care was like seeing him without his dirty orange book. Oddly enough, the book was no where in sight at the moment.

"I see. You do make a good enough case for me to approve. Does anyone refute his claim?" Minato looked around. Everyone was dead silent. Minato waited a couple minutes just to be sure. Still nothing.

"Very well Kakashi. You will have the genin you want." Kakashi nodded and pulled out his book, for once smiling because he was happy.

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[Present]

Well that line of thought would do him no good just sitting here. Naruto decided he would ask Kakashi when he saw him. Naruto looked around and noticed more people complaining than normal, most of which were girls. Sasuke's team must have been announced, thought Naruto. He cursed himself for zoning out and missing the other team announcements. Naruto was about to whisper something to Hinata when Shukaku spoke up.

**"****Hey pup, question."** Naruto about jumped out of his seat.

_'Gah! Don't scare me like that!' _

**"****Anyways, have ye noticed something off about pale eyes over there?"** Naruto sat back in his chair and looked at Hinata.

_'Not really, why?'_

**"****Oh nothing. She just seems more red in the face that she normally is around ye."** Shukaku shrugged and went back to sleep.

Unbeknownst to the sand duo, Hinata was currently spinning with thoughts of her and Naruto on the same team. Fighting off hordes of enemy ninja was just pure determination and love. To her it felt like something out of a book but she didn't care. She loved it. These thoughts had caused her face to redden more so that normal.

Several more hours went by and more and more teams were picked up by their Jonin. Kakashi was known for being late so Naruto simply waved it off and let the others know. Shino seem completely unaffected and Hinata blushed and nodded. Secretly she was glad to spend more time with Naruto, even though they were going to be teammates. It seemed kinda selfish but she didn't care.

After a few more minutes the door opened and Kakashi walked through.

"Hello Team Seven. Meet me on the roof for introductions." Kakashi said with an eye smile as he vanished in a swirl of leaves. The three genin looked at each other and made off towards the roof.

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Within moments the genin were on the roof and Kakashi was there sitting on a chair he had brought. Each of the young ninja took a seat on the roof and looked to their sensei expectantly.

"Well I brought you all up here so that we may get to know each other. You know, learn each others names and hobbies and stuff of that nature." Upon seeing the looks of the three he sighed. "Well I may as well go first. Lead by example and all that. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes and a few dislikes. And my dreams aren't really any of your business."

The three genin sweat dropped. All they had managed to learn was his name and that was it. Some introduction.

"How about you go first Naruto?"

"Okay! My name is Naruto Namikaze! I like my friends and ramen! I dislike stuck up people and my dream is to be Hokage after my dad!" Naruto concluded, jumping from his seat the whole time. Kakashi asked him to settle down, which he did begrudgingly.

"How about you next Hyuuga?" Kakashi asked evenly not intending to insult her by using her last name.

"R-right. My n-name is H-Hinata Hyuuga. I l-l-like.." She glanced to Naruto and her blush deepened. "..and flower p-pressing. I d-dislike separation o-of family. M-my dream i-is to unite the h-house of the Hyuuga Clan." Hinata finished, twiddling her fingers the whole time. Naruto smiled and Shino nodded.

"And last but not least."

"I am Shino Aburame. I like kikai bugs and learning more about them. I dislike those that kill bugs for no reason. My dream is to discover a new species of kikai bug." Shino said. Short an to the point was how people knew him.

"Nice to meet you all. Now I hate to break this to you but you aren't genin yet. That test was there to see if you had the potential to become genin. The jonin determine if you can actually survive out here in this world. Meet at training ground seven at eight in the morning. Oh and don't eat any breakfast. Trust me, you will just puke it back up." With that he eye smiled and puffed away, leaving the three on the roof by themselves.

"Well that was quite the short introduction." Shino piped up.

"Yeah, I knew Kakashi before this but he was never this mysterious. I bet it is all a ploy to scare us or something." Naruto commented.

"I actually would not throw this line of thought out of question. He may very well being using this to unnerve us. Either way I suggest we all be on our guard and be prepared for anything." The other two nodded to their bug teammate.

"W-we should probably g-go home and i-inform our p-p-parents of the day." Hinata spoke. The other two nodded, agreeing to her idea. They each said their goodbye's and took off. Each nervous as to what the next day may hold for them.

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Naruto got home and realized he had quite a long time before his dad came home so he decided to try something that has been on his mind for a bit. He ran outside and took the cork off the gourde and stuffed it in his pocket. The sand came out and made a sand cloud big enough for Naruto to stand on. He put a foot on it and stood up on it. Naruto breathed out a small sigh and looked up towards the sky. He gulped.

See Naruto and Shukaku thought that he should have a mode of transportation that could get him around quickly. Shunshin was cool but wasn't very practical when he need to lift other people off the ground. Shukaku suggested that they make a sand cloud and fly around on that. Naruto thought about it and it was a sound idea. Only problem was making it work. It was easy to send the sand in one direction without caring.

The real problem came when you wanted to fine tune the sand. Make it more precise and more useful. Naruto was by no means a genius but he knew some things and the earth was one of them. He knew that for this to work he would need to have chakra laced sand to push up and stay with him. Next, he would have to adjust his chakra holding him up by the gravity amount that would be applied to his sand. Put these two in an equal balance and he could fly on this cloud, but it would be very chakra intensive.

He steadied himself and braced for the adjust in the change of gravity and altitude. He pushed chakra to his feet and the sand wrapped around it and secured him in it. Naruto command the sand to lift, and lift it did. The take off was shaky and rocky. The change and control needed were hard to maintain on his own but he kept ascending. After a few moments Naruto was at least ten feet in the air when his dad came home, in a flash, and scared Naruto and his focus.

"Gah!" Naruto yelled out as he fell. Luckily his sand was not so scared and caught him and set him down gently.

"Oh hey Naruto. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt...whatever you were doing. What was that?" Minato asked his son with a hint of curiosity.

"I was _flying_!" Minato didn't know if he should laugh or clap. So he did both.

"Flying eh? Well sounds interesting! I hope you get it down soon." Naruto grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. The sand slowly crawled back in to the gourde but not before tapping Naruto on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Naruto asked the sand, which in turn pointed to the empty hole in the gourde. "Oh my bad." he dug into his pants and pulled out the cork and put it on the gourde, sealing it off.

"Well how about I make up for it an take you out to ramen? You can tell me all about your day at school and your sensei." Naruto knew his father knew exactly who it was but couldn't help but be excited at the chance to tell his father everything. Naruto agreed and the two were off.

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Ramen and conversation went well for the blonde boys. Naruto explained everything that went on in his day. Minato sat and listened to everything that it entailed. He truly enjoyed his time with his son and soaked it all up as much as he could. For himself as much as his late wife. He missed her deeply. From her hair to her attitude to her food...

"Hey dad why are your cheeks getting red? Are you getting sick again?" Naruto asked his dad. Minato mentally cursed himself for letting his blush show.

"No son I'm not. I was just thinking about your mother is all." Minato rebuffed.

"Then why did your cheeks get so red?" Naruto asked, curious as to the reason of it.

"Well Naruto, sometimes when you like a person or love them, you blush at their memory or when you are with them." Minato said with a smile. Naruto looked down and nodded, Not finding much else to say.

Naruto got home and went straight up to bed. His mind was seemingly popping at the seams with ideas and thoughts of the future and how it may affect them. Naruto couldn't help it as thoughts of grandeur and fame came rolling into his mind. Together, Team Seven would be the best one there ever was!

This turned his thoughts towards his teammates and Sensei. Kakashi was certainly an odd man. He was most certainly a genius and a well renowned ninja by all accounts. Plus he was his father student so he must be a capable sort. Naruto mentally nodded to himself, pleased with Kakashi.

Shino was more or less the brains behind things. He was very level headed and hardly ever got riled up or let his emotions get the better of him. His family are very well known for their stoic behavior as well as kikai bugs used in tracking. He was also quite the tactician so that helped the team all the more.

Then there was Hinata. She was a Hyuuga so that meant she had those eyes that could see in every direction and for great distances. Plus she had the fighting style that people generally avoid in close combat situations. She was a nice and gentle soul if a bit shy.

Naruto wondered exactly why she was shy. Maybe it was how her mother was when she was younger which would explain it. Even then she would have grown out of it by now. Over the years he noticed that her stutter was getting less and less in public but whenever he was around her it would get worse.

This drove Naruto nuts and made him think. Whenever he was around her, what did she do? She would stutter a great deal more than normal. She would twiddle her fingers, a sign of nervousness? Naruto thought so. She would often blush and avoid his gaze. Was she embarrassed of him? Did he smell bad or have something on his face?

Naruto experimentally felt his face and sighed when he felt that nothing was out of place. So then what was the cause. Naruto thought and thought until finally it hit him. He sat up instantly and recalled what his father said.

_"__Well Naruto, sometimes when you like a person or love them, you blush at their memory or when you are with them."_

Hinata did all those things for one reason.

She liked him.

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**AN:Another one bites the dust. Its about damn time Naruto figured it out. Some of you may be wondering why exactly I had him figure this out so soon. In truth I hate how other stories prolong this realization and then they suddenly realize each other and instantly fall in love. I plan on making them notice each other but take things at a believable pace for romance. Anywho, Next chapter will be out soon. Till then!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**AN: Blast Off!**

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They were all gathered at training ground seven and each of them looked out of it. Shino's normally perfect posture and stance was slightly slumped over. If one looked very carefully they could see he had small bags under his eyes. Quite the sight indeed. Hinata looked a bit more pale than normal. She too look far more tired than she would let on. Then there was Naruto. Due to his startling revelation the previous night he had not slept at all. His normally tan skin looked somewhat dim. Add on to this that it was a tad awkward to be around Hinata now knowing what he does.

To make matters worse Kakashi was horridly late to the second team gathering. Each of them were hungry and tired. And as time wore on they were becoming more and more agitated with their Sensei. Naruto was just about to close his eyes and drift away when the lazy cyclops popped up.

"Sorry I'm late. I took the road less traveled and it turned out to be the long route here." Naruto's left eye began to twitch furiously. Even Hinata glared at him. Shino just looked on unaffected but the way his skin was moved suggested that he was frowning.

"Anyway, let's get to the real test then. You guys are being set up as a tracker unit with your skills. This is how I will test you." He said as he held up two bells. "You will have to track me down and take a bell."

"Sensei, it had occurred to me that there is only two bells. This means that one of us will not pass no matter what?" Shino asked. Kakashi nodded.

"That's correct Shino. One of you will go back while the other two pass. I will give you exactly one hour to find me and take a bell. Good luck!" He said with an eye smile before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

The three genin stood their, shocked that one of them is going to have to go back and redo their school year. All three of them were good friends who have been together since they were little. This would be impossible to decide.

"I say we find Kakashi-sensei and make him accept all three of us!" Naruto demanded.

"That is not a bad idea. I have never heard of a two man squad. I find his claim illogical." Shino nodded as he concluded his sentence.

"I-I agree." Hinata spoke up quietly.

"Well then it looks like we just have to find him." Naruto said as he took the cork off the gourde, The sand pouring out and into the ground below him.

"Agreed. I will have my allies search the area for anything while we look around." Shino stated and sure enough a mass of bugs crawled out of his sleeve and scattered about in every direction.

"I-I can use m-my eyes to s-search while w-we m-move." The other two boys nodded.

"Then let's get searching!"

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Kakashi sighed as he leaned back against a tree on the training ground. He knew the relationship the the three of them had together. He knew that none of them really wanted the other to fail. He had hopped that instead of letting this crush them that they would rise to the occasion and demand that they be put on the same team together by showing excellent teamwork in an impossible situation. He sat down on the ground next to the tree as he thought of the conversation with his former sensei.

[Flashback]

"Kakashi can I speak to you for a second?" Minato asked his former student, who in turn stopped walking and turned around. The meeting for the teams was over so why did he want to see him?

"Of course Sensei. How can I help you?"

"It's about your team." Minato said with a stern but compassionate face.

"What about them?"

"As a Hokage I want to reinforce the thought that you must take care of them. Teach them properly and guide them. As a Father I want you to watch over them. I know Hiashi and Shibi may not be the best at showing their feelings but I know that they would be crushed if something happened to them. I know that if I lost Naruto I would be lost." He said solemnly. Kakashi knew at that moment. This was a serious discussion.

"I understand Sensei. I won't fail you on this. I will teach them to the best of my abilities." Minato smiled at this, glad his student was taking this a bit more seriously.

"Good. Though I am slightly curious as to why you didn't want to take on the Uchiha instead. I figured an assault group would be more your style." Kakashi looked down.

"I thought about it. For Obito and Rin. But Sasuke isn't the type of Uchiha that Obito would want me to train. He is far to focused on revenge and power. He does kind of remind me of myself at that age, I was saved by Obito and Rin. I feel like Kiba and Sakura might be able to pull him out of his shell and get him to be more social. Something I know I could not do." Minato nodded. The subject of those two was a sore subject for the both of them. Neither of them really wanted to engage in that conversation again.

"I see. Well are you planning on using the bell test then?" Kakashi perked up instantly.

"Of course. I am hoping that by threatening them with one of them failing that they will band together and toss that aside. Instead using teamwork as the method and reasoning as to why they should stick together."

"Not bad. I just hope they realize that in time." Minato said.

"I'm sure they will." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

[Flashback end]

Kakashi looked up to a branch. Using his trained senses of hearing, he heard a rather faint buzzing noise go flying by him. The bug zoomed around in the air for a few minutes before landing on a branch a few feet away from Kakashi. He found it odd that a bug of its size would be out and about during this time of day. He lifted up his headband and looked at the bug with his sharingan. The bug had chakra inside of it.

Kakashi's eyes widened when he heard a faint rumbling underneath him. He jumped up just in time as a torrent of sand erupted from the ground an made an attempt to grab his leg. As he was airborne a horde of kunai came flying towards. Kakashi cursed and drew a kunai to block with. Kakashi landed on a branch and turned around just in time to see a small wave of sand coming to engulf the branch he was on. He dashed off the branch and landed in the clearing, where the three genin were waiting for him.

Shino had his bugs floating above him and over Kakashi. If Kakashi jumped into the air he would run into the bugs.

Hinata was in the front of the group an had her Byakugan active and in her family stance, ready to pounce at Kakashi in a moments notice.

Naruto had his sand spread out among the clearing. If Kakashi tried to run he would activate the sand and block his path. Not to mention the sand in his gourde could be used to further distract him.

Kakashi smiled "This is a very good setup. But it's still not enough to catch me." He said as he vanished away again.

The three genin looked to each other and smiled.

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Kakashi smiled as he puffed into another clearing, pulling down his headband over his eye. They certainly were working together to achieve the goal but he wanted to see just how good they could do with a target that kept avoiding them. He reached into his back pocket and drew out a little orange book. He began to read and giggle as was customary for this book.

He was just starting to get into it too when suddenly the light in the forest went out. Now that was odd seeing as how it was almost noon. The sun should be shining brightly, not being blacked out. Kakashi stood up and looked more closely at the blanket that was covering the small area he was in. It was sand.

Panicking he made a mad dash towards where the sand was still open. Only to be blocked by Hinata who attacked him with ferocity and grace, attempting to push him back. Kakashi dodged the strikes and evaded the girl only to be met with a large black swarm of bugs.

Kakashi cursed as his entrance was blocked. He put his kunai away seeing that the sand closed off his exit. Naruto came out of the shadows behind with a smile. Kakashi could tell that he was just barely holding on to the jutsu.

"Now we need to talk. As you can see the three of us work perfectly together and thus would be wasted potential to split us up over something as silly as a bell. Furthermore I believe that there is no such thing as a two genin and one jonin squad. We _request_ to stay together." Shino said as he too came out of the shadows. He emphasized the last word. Soon Hinata joined them, looking a little less fierce but just as determined.

Kakashi looked at the three of them and clapped.

He just...clapped.

"Very good you three. You figured it out. Yes, Shino you are correct. This test was never about the bells. In reality this was simply to test your patience and resolve. Also, the test was meant to see if you could work as a team. In this manner I am proud to say. You all passed." He gave them a big thumbs up.

Shino adjusted his glasses but he was happy with the result. Hinata blushed and smiled widely. Naruto just passed out. The sand dome around them stress of the day just got to him .Hinata rushed to his side while Kakashi and Shino just sighed.

And thus Team Seven was born. Destined to do great things.

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When the Team was born Kakashi knew he had his work cut out for him. Shino could not interact with his emotions. He saw things far too black and white for Kakashi's taste. Naruto put an intense amount of faith on the use of his sand to attack and defend him. Hinata was just far too shy. She had a lot of potential to become a wonderful ninja but she would need to learn to let that go in the heat of the battle.

So when they would get together for training that is exactly what they would do.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto bellowed. Kakashi smiled. It was rare that he was on time to train his students but he wanted to get them started early. Kakashi noted that both of the other members were behind him.

"Are you all ready to train?" Kakashi asked. He wanted to get straight to the point and let them know that he was serious.

All three of them nodded quickly.

"Good, the first thing we will be training on is Taijutsu." Naruto quickly let out a groan. "It is very essential for a ninja to be able to perform hand to hand combat. This is what we will do for the first few weeks or until I feel you are able to pass my standard. The next tier after that will be Ninjutsu and Genjutsu practice. The last couple of weeks will be application and sparring. Then, my adoreable little genin, We will begin missions." All of them nodded and soon the training began.

Just as Kakashi said they began to train. Each of them working on their hand to hand skills for the first few weeks. Shino was able to learn and adapt without much of a problem. He actually began to excel at it. Much to Kakashi's enjoyment. Hinata was above average on Taijutsu, as was expected. Kakashi didn't know much about the Hyuuga style, having only see others use it, but she was determined and increased her physical skills noticeably. Naruto had the hardest time with it. Mainly because he didn't see the use. No one was able to get through it except Kakashi. He was the only one with the speed and strength to get through it. But, as stubborn as he is, he managed to learn and became somewhat worth while in the subject.

Moving on with the training, the group began to practice Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Ninjutsu was more of Kakashi's lane but he knew a decent amount of Genjutsu. Before actually training them in either style, Kakashi had them figure out their main chakra affinity. Shino was an Earth Type, more on the defensive side but that wasn't necessarily bad. Hinata was lightning type which greatly surprised her. Kakashi explained that maybe this was the reason she wasn't as good at her family style. The Gentle Fist was a grounded stance. Lightning isn't very grounded and needs to be able to move quickly. Naruto was a wind type, little surprise there as both his father and Shukaku were wind types. Kakashi learned there elements and quickly took to training them in that area.

In terms of Genjutsu it was very scattered. Naruto couldn't learn the art due to his high chakra capacity and low chakra control. Shino didn't really take to it too much. He could perform some basic ones but it wasn't his strong suit. Hinata was the one that took to it the greatest by far. Her chakra was the most suited for the Genjutsu arts.

The last little bit of their main training revolved around sparring and using what they learned. It was actually very useful for the group. It gave them the chance to see where they were weakest and where they were strongest. After all this and seeing the results, Kakashi decided the time for missions was upon them.

When Naruto had his dreams of being a super great ninja doing super great missions he didn't mean this. In his arms was and extremely swift cat that they had caught for the umpteenth time. Naruto wanted to go and battle super bad guys not fight and endless wave of D-ranked missions. Heck he even made a competition of how fast he could get through them.

In the end it was futile. Ever time they would turn one in, another four would return. And truth be told Naruto hated it.

Minato on the other had rather enjoyed it. Not for some sick and twisted fantasy mind you. But simply because he didn't want to send he precious son out into the world yet. He didn't feel that he was ready in the slightest. So for now the endless wave of D-ranked missions would have to satisfy his son for now.

Naruto on the other hand would not have it. That's why when he kicked down the door to the Hokage's office his objective was to get a better mission. Carefully handing the cat over to the owner, and watching the owner leave, Naruto turned to his dad with a furious expression.

"Dad, when can I go on a mission above D rank?" Naruto asked evenly. He knew better than to let his temper rise as it would cause his chakra to spike to. And that would do no good.

"When I feel that you are ready to do them Naruto. Not before." Minato responded in a more fatherly tone than anything.

"But Dad. We have done months of D ranked missions now." he complained.

"Yes that is true but unless your jonin instructor says you are ready my choice will remain the same." Minato smiled and Kakashi sent him a dirty look.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei! I think we are ready for one! Our team totally rocks!" Naruto pleaded and Kakashi sighed.

"Lord Hokage, what missions are available that my team would be able to handle successfully?"

Minato opened up his desk and seemed to dig through the drawers as if looking for a certain scroll. During the mess Naruto was able to see that a mission to the land of waves was in progress and was being performed by team eight. Interesting considering the date on this was from a week ago. And Team Eight was back already.

"Ah here! This one will have to do. A C-ranked mission to the border of Fire Country. All you have to do is meet on a neutral bridge and receive a scroll from some villagers." Minato said with ease. Trying to make it sound more easy than it was.

"That's it?" Naruto asked, instantly displeased with the mission.

"Yup! Just go there, get the scroll, and get home. Should be fun for you three and a decent break from the village."

"We'll take it." Kakashi said with enthusiasm.

"Good!" Minato stamped the mission scroll and threw it to Kakashi with blinding speed. "You'll be leaving tomorrow and be back within a week!" Team Seven bowed and left the office. Once they were out side they spoke.

"Woohoo mission time!"

"I was under the assumption that you were displeased by the mission Naruto?" Shino said with a dull tone.

"Well yeah I was but it's still a mission right?"

"R-right." Hinata said while twiddling with her fingers.

"Well now that we have been informed of our mission I suggest you all go and get ready for a week long trip." Kakashi mentioned off hand. The three nodded and separated. Kakashi left first and Shino left quickly after him. Leaving Naruto and Hinata walking in the same direction considering their compounds were so close to each either.

"Hey Hinata can I ask you something?" Naruto asked while they walked. Determining this to be the best time to ask about his revelation. Hinata looked curious and nodded.

"Well uhh...I was never good with this tact thing so i'll just ask you." Naruto stopped walking and looked Hinata dead in the eyes.

"Hinata do you like me?" Naruto asked as softly as he could.

Hinata's heart stopped like she had sneezed. She blinked a few times and stared at he crush for another few moment. Had she heard him right? Had she already fainted but didn't know it? Was this just another one of her sick dreams?

"W-what?" She asked weakly. Naruto sighed. He knew that this was still going to be quite the question for her to answer.

"I asked if you liked me? Like as more than a friend?" Naruto repeated his question for added clarity.

Yup, She had heard him right this time. And she was most certainly awake. How did she know this? Well she only stutters in reality. In her dreams she always had the courage to face her crush without stuttering and winning his heart.

Hinata thought for a moment why exactly she liked Naruto more than anyone else that had come across her path. He was a brave soul. That much was proven when he saved her from the kidnapper. He was a humble soul as well. He made this clear over the years she had known him. He was never one to turn away a friend and always made an attempt to learn about other people. She liked Naruto because of who he was and all he upheld.

Hinata merely nodded to Naruto, not exactly trusting her voice to speak. Naruto nodded back and to her surprise, he smiled.

"Well then there is only one thing to do." Naruto paused leaving Hinata to ponder what he meant. "Well we go to Ichiraku's for a date!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air an Hinata blushed.

"Naruto, w-we can't tonight. W-we have a m-mission to get ready f-for." Hinata added who seemed to be just as upset by this as Naruto did.

"Well then after we get back then?" Naruto asked an Hinata nodded quickly. "Alright then! It's set. Ill see you tomorrow Hinata." Naruto said as headed off to his home. Hinata waved back and hurried back home.

Hinata walked home happily. Well, maybe it was more accurate to say she floated home on her own personal cloud nine. To anyone it would have seemed odd and kinda scary the way the Hyuuga heiress was smiling but in a way it made others smile as well. She casually floated past the gate guards with the same smile on her face. The guards looked at each other and shrugged, not really caring why she was so happy.

Her happiness was put on a momentary hold when Hinata bumped into Hiashi.

"S-sorry!" Hinata blurted out, not recognizing the Hyuuga leader just yet.

"All is well Daughter. Is there something you want to tell me? You were moving around rather merrily just a moment ago." Hiashi asked his eldest daughter and Heir to the Clan.

"Y-yes. Tomorrow me a-and my team are l-leaving for a C-ranked mission." Hinata stated firmly, glad she had something else to feed her father instead of the truth.

"I see. Then you had best go prepare to make the Hyuuga proud on this mission." Hinata nodded and left without another word.

Hiashi sighed to himself. Ever since his wife had died when giving birth to little Hanabi, Hiashi had been focused on bringing her to be the strongest she could be. In a way he neglected Hinata in favor of Hanabi. He had to protect the life that his wife gave to his younger sister. He could tell that there was some kind of resentment between the two that always went unspoken. He knew it was only a matter of time or influence before something happened. Hiashi sighed to himself and walked towards his chamber to think.

[][][][]

[Mindscape of Naruto]

"Hey Shukaku I have a question."

**"Yes pup?"**

"I get how you explained the Tailed Beast connection and all but what exactly does it do for us?" Naruto pondered.

**"Well quite a few things. I can give you more chakra easier. We can talk easier. Your sand response quicker."** Shukaku said in a bored tone.

"That's it? We do all this team work and link our minds together just to be faster and think quicker?" Naruto said with a frown, obviously not buying into the whole thing.

**"Well that is just the beginning. If we attain a perfect link we can perform the Tailed Beast transformation."** Naruto's eyes lit up at that.

"What does that do?" He asked, curious and impatient as to what this new power could do.

**"Well in a sense you would transform into me."** Shukaku said carefully. This wasn't common knowledge and he had to tell Naruto how to be careful with the information.

"Something tells me there is something I am missing here." Naruto said as he crossed his arms.

**"There is Naruto. First you have to promise to not say anything to anyone about this."** Naruto nodded. **"Good. In a sense you would have all my power and would be this form in the real world. In a sense you would become me for a moment. There are very big dangers. It will drain your chakra relatively fast. The weaker the link between us and the faster you will lose chakra."** Shukaku spoke, losing he odd way of speaking in return for a more serious and deadly voice.

"I still feel as though there is something you are not telling me."

**"Oh there is. I will not just hand over my power to you. You will have to become strong enough to beat me and take that power for yourself. Only then will I merge my chakra with yours and create the perfect link. Until then you will only have access to the one tailed partial form."** Naruto grinned. Now he had an objective to strive towards.

"Deal." Naruto stuck out his fist and Shukaku bumped it, the sign for them that they agreed on something.

**"Ye know Naruto, If ya pops sealed me in here against me will. Why I would 'ave force ye to call me mother and consume blood for me joy."** Shukaku finished and let out a wild and happy laugh. Naruto truly wondered what would Shukaku be to him if they didn't work together.

[Elsewhere]

A tall man with a large sword and eerie presence watched over a section, as per his job. He truly thought this was a poor showing of his skills but that couldn't be helped. He needed the money and this was the only way that he could make good money without a village.

As if there the whole time, a person walked out of the shadows. In all honesty it looked like it could have been a girl. Or a really feminine looking boy. Either way, the person moved next to the tall man with grace far beyond his age.

"Zabuza, I have received the mission. In roughly three to four days a group of villagers will be carrying documents that will expose Gato for his corruption. He wants you to stop this trade and bring him the documents. He will pay you double from the last mission." The smaller person noted.

The last mission the duo went on was completed without too much hassle. They were instructed to kill a bridge builder so their employer could keep his hold on the island. In a way they had succeeded. The bridge builder was dead and the bridge was gone. But the island now had a connection to the hidden leaf for business. This deal was most likely set up from the genin team that was encountered while in wave country. The duo could care less. They got paid.

Zabuza grunted at the information. After this little job they would have more than enough to get what they needed. They just had to get the documents.

[][][][]

**AN: Bam! Another one down for your viewing pleasure. Till next time!  
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	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**AN: Here we go!...again  
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It was a bright and sunny day in Konoha. The shop owners were happily opening. The cooks were firing up their stoves to being to cook the food. Yes today was a rather nice and plain day for most of the people in Konoha. The same could not be said for Team Seven.

Like it was supposed to be, they had all met up at gate in the early morning to get a jump on the mission. Only problem they didn't factor in was Naruto. First, the boy woke up late and almost didn't make it. Second, he forgot his gourde due to his rushing. He had to go back and get it. And last but most annoying. Naruto had skipped breakfast.

He complained at least every few minutes.

It was driving everyone nuts!

Lucky for them they ended up reaching the destination rather quickly and set up camp. They figured if they are going to wait around for another few days then they might as well train and get better. It took them quite a bit to get set up. They had to clear out a few shrubs here and there and scout out the area to ensure nothing was going on around there. Then they had to set up there tents and all that jazz. It wasn't the most glamorous place to be but it would work.

"Alright you three. We have a few days before we have to meet the people at the bridge. In that time you will be training." Kakashi said while walking to a tree. Naruto was about two seconds away from questioning him as to what kind of training they would do when it happened. Kakashi began walking up the tree on his feet. The three genin stood in awe as Kakashi sat on a high branch from the tree.

"You will be doing the tree walking exercise. This will help build your reserves and teach you how to walk on other surfaces. As you can imagine, you will have to use the proper amount of chakra to stick. Too little and you will slip off. Too much and you will blast off." He hopped off the branch. "Any questions?" They shook their head. "Alright then. Begin!"

Pain.

That was the easiest way to say it.

Pure, unfiltered pain.

Naruto felt like his skull was literally lit on fire from the damage.

In short, Naruto had the most trouble out of the bunch. He had far too much chakra for such a little use of it. Every time he would get a few feet up, he would blast off. But make no mistake. This was a vast improvement considering he couldn't get more than a foot up before he blasted off. To make matters worse, both Hinata and Shino had already finished the damn thing. Naruto, being the stubborn person he is, began to use his mind to come up with a way to do this. That's when it hit him.

Naruto began to think back to when he was flying on the cloud, or at least attempting to fly. He had to focus really hard to control the amount of chakra he was using. He really had to give it his all in order to float. The same rules must apply here.

He tightened his headband and walked back towards the tree with a fire of determination in his eyes. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind from all distractions. He carefully placed one foot on the tree, he was rewarded with the feeling on a suction on his foot from the tree. Following the process he slowly walked up the tree, securing his foothold each and every time.

Kakashi watched this from a distance with a small smile on his face. He was told of Naruto of course. Even his little guest. But he knew about that long before he was told. Naruto just had far too much chakra for anyone of his age. It was far to unbelievable, despite the fact that he was part Uzumaki. That is why Kakashi was proud to see Naruto making leaps and bounds in chakra control by doing this exercise.

He turned his attention away from the blonde and instead looked towards the camp sight. There he spotted the Hyuuga Heiress. She was something to behold. She was more gentle than the smallest of breezes but at the same time she could be stern and rugged like a rock when she wanted. It obvious that both her and Naruto had something going on by the tension between them. It wasn't awkward or tense but merely excited. Something was up between the two for sure. Either way Kakashi knew that Naruto made Hinata work harder and he was thankful for that.

He nodded before turning his vision ever so slightly and landed on the Aburame Heir. He was in ever way, just like the rest of his clan. Emotionless and level headed with an impressive mind for strategy and tact. Even though he didn't express it vocally, he knew by the boys body language that he did indeed care about his two teammates a great deal.

Kakashi was brought out of his think process when he heard Naruto fall down off the tree after marking his progress. He sighed and hopped out of the tree. It was getting late and there was little doubt that Naruto was getting hungry.

[][][][]

Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Minato was dealing with some rather intense meetings. A rather important message had reach Minato.

It was roughly two days since Team Seven had left and Minato was beyond worried. He felt as though they could handle this mission no problem but something felt off about it. He trust Kakashi of course, but a father can't help but to worry. It happened to be another one of the boring days filled with an abundance of paperwork when a messenger came in.

"Lord Hokage, a message for you from the other Shinobi Villages." The messenger bowed deeply before placing the scroll on the desk.

"Thank you. You may return to your post." the messenger bowed again and left.

Minato opened up the scroll and began to read.

_"To: Hokage of the Leaf_

_It has come to the attention of the other Shinobi villages that Konoha has been able to recover from it's most unfortunate attack at the hands of a Tailed Beast. It has also been made known to us that Konoha has maintained it's leader from the attack and as such is in a proper working condition. Based upon this information that has been made known to us we have decided to convene about the exams. It is the vote of the Shinobi villages that Konoha host this years Chunin Exams. This shall pick up the cycle where it last left off while the village recovered. Please inform your council of this decision. "_

Minato set the scroll down and rubbed his head. Did they just impose on his village? It was kind of true that Konoha is ready to host such things. Plus according to the old cycle it was their turn anyhow. Rolling up the scroll he sat up and took off to go and inform his council of these matters.

And such this is were we find Minato now. Back in his office after such a trying time in the council chambers. They seemed to doubt that Konoha was ready for such an influx of people and political intrigue. Regardless this was a very important event and very traditional. Not to mention it was the offset from war.

His thoughts drifted back to his son. If he was fighting just to go a C-ranked mission then there was no way on earth that he was going to let this chance pass him up. But who could blame him? It was an exciting time and it was in Konoha which made Minato feel a bit better. He would be able to watch over everything within the safety of his own home.

When Naruto got back he would inform him that in two weeks time.

The Chunin Exams would happen.

[][][][]

Speaking of the blonde, Team Seven had just finished their tree exercise for the day. Kakashi had them practice each day and this was the fourth day in a row. Instead they were moving on to something else.

"Alright, let's move on to sparring for a bit. Then we will sit down and go over the fight." the three genin nodded to their silver haired sensei. "Hinata, you and Naruto spar. Use whatever you feel you must but obviously, no killing. I will take Shino." And without another word the two left, leaving Hinata and Naruto alone.

"Well let's get to it!" Naruto said as he jumped up and moved a fair distance away to take a stance. Hinata nodded and went to her end of the grassy field and took her stance.

Naruto nodded to Hinata as the sand came pouring out of his gourde. Hinata nodded and activated her bloodline. She then charged him and cleared the distance between them with a gust of speed. She struck out to hit Naruto in the arm with a jyuuken. Her attempt was for not as the sand rose to protect its host with haste.

Hinata jumped back and frowned. This was by far the hardest part about sparring with Naruto. His sand would never allow anything harmful to get through. Hinata knew that the sand moved on its own and was fast but if the strikes were fast enough and hard enough they could break through the sand.

Naruto smirked while Hinata thought about a way to get through. He launched a tendril of sand that lashed out to strike her midsection. Hinata gracefully spun to avoid it. The tendril came back around in a hope to grab her by the waist. Hinata jumped up to avoid the grasp. Naruto took the time while she was in the to launch a wave of sand to ensnare her.

Hinata's eyes widened as she saw the large wave of sand rise up to catch her. In reality, she had hardly anything to use at this point. She looked to the left and saw a log. Quickly gathering some chakra she swapped with the object. A moment later and the log was eviscerated without remorse. Hinata needed to think of a plan.

Naruto frowned when he looked at the log. Hinata had swapped out and judging by the vibrations in the ground she had not moved from her spot. He closed his eyes and tried to feel her out from the ground. When all at once she rushed out of the bushes and came straight at him with a burning white eyes of determination.

"Eight Trigrams Thirty-two palms!" Hinata shouts.

_Two strikes_

The first two strikes are easily blocked by the sand, the strikes leaving only small indentations.

_Four strikes_

Four strikes in the exact same spot the first two were. The sand, having no time to recover, is damaged even further.

_Eight strikes_

Naruto watches as Hinata drills into his sand layer with speed and power.

_Sixteen strikes_

The sand layer holds up until the last strike hits. After that his sand begins to crumble and fall apart.

_Thirty two strikes_

Hinata's fingers tear right through the weakened sand. The first sixteen of the strikes broke through the sand and the other sixteen hit Naruto flush on his body. At the end Naruto is sent flying and Hinata is standing in his place, panting heavily.

"W-Wow Hinata! Your strikes hurt like hell!" Naruto said as he got back up, his chest area burning in protest. Hinata blushed deeply.

"T-thank you. B-but its not f-finished yet. It c-can go up to sixty four." Hinata worried slighty because she was telling Naruto a secret technique of her clan. But he had just been on the receiving end of it and he was a trusted friend. So what harm could it do?

"Really?! I am so glad you didn't use that on me just then. I would have been toast if you did! I'm really going to have to up my Taijutsu training!" He said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Hinata thought about telling him that she simply couldn't do it but she was enjoying his praise just too much.

The two sat down and began talking about their fight. They talked about their strengths and weaknesses. Hinata thought she needed to improve her physical strength and speed in order to finish the move. Naruto needed to come up a second layer of defense in case the first one was breached like it was today.

Soon Shino and Kakashi joined them and added in their own findings about their limits. All in all today had be a most productive day. The team looked behind them and noticed the sun was indeed setting. It was time to get back to camp.

[][][][]

A few hours from the events of Team Seven and their sparring, the moon had come up. It shone in full force over the village and farmland that was near it. On one of the taller building a man stood. The moonlight making his pale skin shine. He bore a wicked and sinister grin as a man spoke behind him.

"Lord Orochimaru, I have returned from the mission." This made Orochimaru grin even further.

"What did you find?" He asked.

"Currently, Team Eight is home after a failed mission. They look to have signed up in the Chunin Exams as well. Team Seven is currently on a mission and should be returning shortly." Orochimaru let out a small chuckle.

"Excellent. Inform the others that will be entering the Chunin Exams then."

"Lord Orochimaru, may I ask why exactly we are going?"

"Tell me something Kabuto, how are your eyes?" Orochimaru asked the man now identified as Kabuto. Kabuto pushed up his glasses.

"They could be better." Orochimaru grinned again as he turned around, his golden eyes glowing in the night.

"Exactly. They could always be better."

"Does this mean you will be going for..."

"Yes."

"Both of them?"

"Yes, now leave me be. Go get the others ready."

[][][][]

It was a pretty normal day for a mission. Then again all the previous days were pretty normal. Much like this day. But Kakashi knew better.

Oh boy did he know better.

Which was why when he arrived at the bridge and no one was there, he was not surprised. To be honest he kinda expected it. C-ranked missions always seem to turn bad at the last moment. Kakashi eyed the scene carefully. There was the bridge, made of sleek and sturdy wood with oak wood railings. There was the water that flowed under it. Flowing at a steady pace considering its depth and width.

Kakashi sniffed the air. There was a hint of Iron in the air.

"Help me!" A bloody villager came run to the group. Frantically crying and sobbing about how his wife was killed. "My wife! They took her! Scroll! Take it!" He ripped a scroll out from under his robes and took off screaming in woods.

Kakashi picked up the scroll and sighed. "This is the scroll but I have a feeling that whatever attacked him is coming this way."

"What do y-you think could scare him s-so much?" Hinata asked her sensei.

"A rouge ninja, A summoned creature, bandits. It's hard to say at this point Hinata." Kakashi said, wondering the exact same thing as her.

Naruto's face contorted in a flash of confusion. "Kakashi-sensei! Someone is coming this way!" the group snapped to attention and looked to the other end of the bridge.

The cork shot out of Naruto's gourde and sand readily poured out.

Hinata dropped into her stance, not wanting to activate her eyes till the moment she needed to.

Shino let his bugs swarm out of his coat.

Kakashi closed his book and looked over to the end of the bridge.

Everyone stood firm in their respective positions. Each of them wanting to prove that the could handle whatever may come there way. Each had a dream to protect and preserve. A few insanely tense moments went by before it came out.

It rolled across the bridge in a thick white mass. It was impossibly white and impossible to see through. It was.

It was...

A snow bunny.

Everyone instantly relaxed, except for Kakashi. He had a feeling that this wasn't right. Something was very, _very_ off here. Just then a massive blade came swinging out of no where.

"Get down!" Kakashi said as he went and tackled each of them to the ground. The massive blade swung up and stuck itself inside the tree just above them. A moment later, a man appeared upon it.

"Hand over the documents now. Or else I'll be forced to cut you down like pigs." The man said. He voice sounded like something from the deepest depths of hell. His eerie presence was enough to scare the whole group. Even Kakashi felt a bit nervous from that. The genin were simply paralyzed in fear.

"Zabuza Momochi, The Demon of the Mist. A-ranked missing Ninja." Kakashi said with an steel to his voice that his students had not heard yet.

**"Oi pup don't ye dare freeze up 'ere!"** Shukaku roared inside of Naruto's mind. Naruto growled lowly and nodded.

"My my, It does me good to know my reputation proceeds me. You yourself are very well known Kakashi of the Shari-" Zabuza was cut off as a torrent of chakra smashed into his chest, thus smashing him against the tree he was on.

Kakashi looked back to see Naruto standing there with his right out stretched and his eyes golden.

"Gah, that brats sand hits hard. Let's see how he handles this." And in a blur of speed, he was gone. The sand around Naruto stood up and slowly circled him, prepping for the attack to happen.

It happened just as fast as it started. To Naruto's left Zabuza has appeared and his sword was already a mere foot away from Naruto when the sand sprung up to defend Naruto. Zabuza hopped back upon seeing this and set his sword on his back.

"Heh, That sand defense you got isn't bad kid. I wonder if it still as good when you can't see." His hand went into a seal, his other arm stuck straight up in the air. Not five seconds later a dense fog came rising out to meet the team.

Kakashi lifted up his headband to reveal his Sharingan. Hinata went through a few signs before activating her Byakugan. Hinata and Shino natural drifted more towards Naruto and looked around for a sign of anything.

Kakashi stood In front of the group and stood in his stance. Suddenly, another fighter joined in, with a hunter nin mask.

"Haku, you handle the kids. I'll take Kakashi." The masked Haku nodded wordlessly and disappeared in a blur of speed. Kakashi looked back and hoped his genin would be able to handle this fight. Zabuza launched forward and tired to cut Kakashi in half by the waist. Kakashi rolled out of the way and sighed.

The Fight was on!

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**AN: For those that may be asking why this chapter was shorter. It was because I didn't want to put the fight and the build up in one chapter. Next chapter is the fight. Till then!**


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